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Feb 15, 2017 / 16:02

Over 60% of Japanese firms want to expand business in Vietnam

The Hanoi office of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) held a press conference in Hanoi on February 14 to announce the result of a survey on the operation of Japanese companies in Vietnam.

The survey examined business operation of Japanese companies in Asia and Oceania in 2016.
 
Illustrative image
Illustrative image
The survey was implemented in Vietnam in October and November 2016, involving 639 valid respondents. 
Speaking at the press conference, Mr. Atsusuke Kawada, head of the Hanoi office of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), said that more than 60 percent of Japanese firms in Vietnam intend to expand their business in the country.
Japanese enterprises also continue considering Vietnam an important investment destination, he noted.
According to the survey's result, over  60 percent of the responding enterprises said they gained profits from investment in Vietnam (up 4 percentage point from 2015), while 25.1 percent reported loss (up 1.1 percentage points).
A representative of Japan External Trade Organisation speaks at the press conference.
A representative of Japan External Trade Organisation speaks at the press conference.
In addition, about 80 percent told they expanded their business prompted by revenue increases while 63 percent of firms in non-manufacturing industries cited “high growth potential” as reasons for their expansion plans.
Vietnam’s investment environment is being improved, according to many businesses.
However, nearly 59 percent of them said the labour cost was increasing, while around 40 percent considered incomplete infrastructure facilities and complicated taxation procedure risks.
The rate of applying Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) among Japanese firms in Vietnam reaches 47.2 percent, up 2.2 percentage points from the past year.
Vietnam was ranked fourth among 15 countries with underdeveloped support industry, according to 34.9 percent of the surveyed firms.
Over 60 percent complained about increasing salary for local employees and difficulties in procurement of raw materials and parts locally.