An online conference was jointly organized in Hanoi on Thursday by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation to promote Japanese investment flows into Vietnam.

The conference, the first of its kind held by the Vietnamese planning ministry, saw the participation of representatives of more than 1,000 Japanese enterprises, according to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Vu Dai Thang.

Addressing the event, Thang said that Vietnam ranked 70 among 190 economies in this year’s ‘Doing Business 2020’ report released by the World Bank — falling one spot from its position last year but with a higher overall score of 69.8 points — as the nation has proactively improved its business and investment environment for foreign companies.

Data of the ministry showed that Japan is the second-largest FDI investor in Vietnam, with a registered capital of over US$60 billion out of the total investment of $380 billion in 32,000 FDI projects across the Southeast Asian country.

Director of the ministry’s Foreign Investment Agency Do Nhat Hoang said Vietnam has a stable political situation, high economic growth, abundant human resources, large market potential, and a growing per capita income.

Vietnam also has preferential policies to attract foreign investment, with priority given to new technology, environment-friendly, and high-value projects, Hoang said.

Notably, Vietnam and Japan have signed agreements on the avoidance of double taxation, investment protection and many other deals to ensure the interests of businesses in both countries in investment and trade, he added.

Meanwhile, Okabe Daisuke from the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam said Japanese investors are now very interested in Vietnam.

A survey on Japanese enterprises in Asia and Oceania conducted by JETRO in February 2020 revealed that over 63 percent of Japanese enterprises doing business in Vietnam have the desire to expand their investment in the near future, the highest rate in ASEAN.

Okabe said in order to attract more investment, Vietnam needs to speed up the disbursement of capital for public investment projects, ensure transparency, fairness, and effectiveness in implementing policies, and further foster international integration.

The envoy also expected traveling between Vietnam and Japan will soon return to normal against the context of the ongoing novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

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