Hanoi (VNA) – President Tran Dai Quang hosted a reception inHanoi on July 31 for a delegation from the Japan-Vietnam Economic Committeeunder the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), the largest economicorganisation in Japan with 1,340 companies, 109 industrial associations, and 49regional economic organisations.

President Quang thanked Keidanren for its active and effectivecooperation with Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment to organise a meetingbetween the President and heads of some large economic groups of Japan on theoccasion of his visit to Japan in May.

The President said that after his successful visit to Japan, many Japaneseinvestors came to Vietnam to seek cooperation, investment, and businessopportunities, while the number of visitors between the two countries has beenon the rise, reflecting the growth in cooperation between the two sides.

He appreciated Keidanren’s support and company with Vietnam during thecountry’s efforts to improve its investment environment, as well as theorganisation’s activities to connect Japanese and Vietnamese firms, thus promotingstrategic partnership between the two countries.

President Quang held that the sharing of many common strategic interestsbetween the two countries, along with the prompt implementation of the Comprehensiveand Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Vietnamdefines Japan as its leading and long-term partner, and is keen on working withJapan to further bolster the partnership.

The State leader asserted that the growth of the Vietnamese economy willbring about many opportunities for Japanese firms, pledging that Vietnam willgive optimal conditions for them to do business in the local market.

He asked Keidanren to continue coordinating with the Vietnamese side tolure more Japanese investment in Vietnam’s prioritised sectors – namely high-techagriculture, agro-fisheries processing, electronics, agricultural machineries, environmentalprotection, power saving, oil and gas, and automobile and spare partproduction.

He lauded the role of the two Co-Chairs of the Japan-Vietnam EconomicCommittee, Kuniharu Nakamura and Hideo Ichikawa, in promoting the collaborationbetween the two countries, especially in the implementation of theVietnam-Japan Joint Initiative.

The President stressed that the initiative has helped maintain politicalpolicy dialogues between Vietnamese Governmental agencies and Japanesebusinesses, which he described as an effective channel for Vietnameseauthorities to obtain information during the process of completing the legaland policy system in order to better the domestic investment environment.

Kuniharu Nakamura said that the building of the extensive strategicpartnership between Vietnam and Japan has help to boost bilateral economiccooperation.

He said that Japanese firms see Vietnam as an attractive market withhigh economic growth, a large population, and political stablity. Vietnam isalso a gateway to other ASEAN countries, he noted, adding that the SoutheastAsian country has made bigger contributions to the global value chain.

He noted that bilateral investment ties have expanded extensively, with Japaneseinvestments to Vietnam reaching over 9 billion USD in 2017.

Kuniharu Nakamura affirmed that Keidanren wants to work with Vietnam in improvingthe country’s competitiveness through supporting human resource training and grantingmore scholarships to local students.

Meanwhile, Hideo Ichikawa noted that the Vietnam-Japan Joint Initiative hascontributed to attracting more investment in Vietnam, underlining that Japanesefirms hope to continue engaging in high-quality infrastructure projects inVietnam under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

He committed that Keidanren will continue coordinating closely withVietnam in realising the initiative.–VNA