Vietnam, Japan look to develop leading industry

Vietnam and Japan are determined to facilitate the growth of key industries to promote the two economies' growth in the future, it was reported at a meeting between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Yasutoshi Nishimura, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, on November 3.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (right) and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura at a meeting on November 3. Photo: VGP

The Vietnamese Government is committed to supporting and facilitating Japanese companies to set up and expand their operations in Vietnam, said Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Chinh called on the Japanese government to support Vietnamese enterprises to deepen their participation in global supply chains.

He urged the two governments and related agencies to cooperate and implement Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio's initiative on the Asian Zero Emission Community (AZEC).

Chinh highlighted several key areas of bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and Japan, including green transition, digital transformation, innovation, high-tech development, semiconductor production, and new materials development.

The Vietnamese government leader hoped Japan would continue to open its market to Vietnamese aquatic and agricultural products, especially fruits, and support Vietnamese enterprises in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals to improve the health sector. 

He expected Japan to further support Vietnamese agencies and enterprises in legislation, personnel training, technology transfer, financing, and management and administration.

Vietnam and Japan should continue to enhance political trust and cooperation by organizing more high-level visits between the two governments and ministries, and strengthen decentralized relations between provinces and cities, Chinh said.

Chinh urged Japan to simplify its visa policy and create favorable conditions for Vietnamese to work and settle in Japan.

As Vietnam aims to become a developed, industrialized and high-income economy in 2045, Chinh recommended that the Japanese government help strengthen Vietnam's economy and provide new-generation ODA loans for the country's infrastructure development projects.

"Vietnam sees Japan as a long-term, important and reliable partner," the Prime Minister said.

For his part, the Japanese minister expressed his support for Vietnam's goal of becoming an industrialized, modern economy by 2045 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

He pledged that Japanese Government agencies and Vietnamese counterparts will set up joint working groups to accelerate cooperation in all fields, especially science, technology and human training, as well as multilateral agreements such as the CPTPP.

He said Japan will focus on flagship projects representing industrial cooperation between the two economies.

These projects will take the lead in driving the Vietnamese and Japanese economies in the future, he said. The focus sectors include biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, water processing, rare earth processing, and others.

Both were pleased to note that the Vietnam-Japan strategic partnership has been growing strongly, with high-level visits, including six meetings between the two prime ministers.

Japan is also one of Vietnam's major trading partners and the largest ODA donor to Vietnam. In its bilateral relations with Vietnam, Japan ranks second in labor cooperation, third in tourism and investment, and fourth in cross-border trade.

The two countries also have more than 100 pairs of localities that have established their decentralized partnerships. Nearly 500,000 Vietnamese have settled in Japan, making Vietnam the second-largest foreign community in the eastern nation.