The trend of Japanese enterprises investing in the local food sector is increasingly obvious, said Harumitsu Hida, Japanese Consular General in Ho Chi Minh City on the opening of the program called “Mon ngon Nhat Ban” (Japanese delicacies) in HCMC yesterday.

Apart from a good number of Japanese restaurants operating effectively in Vietnam, many Japanese enterprises have built their food-producing factories and facilities in the country to cater to local demands, Hida said.

According to the Japanese Consulate General, there are currently two supermarkets trading in Japanese food items and some 250 restaurants offering Japanese delicacies in addition to some hundreds of Japanese manufacturers.

Among them, scores of Japan’s leading food corporations have made forays into the local market by means of joint ventures and mergers, such as Nichirei Corp.’s joint venture with locally-owned Cholimex Co.

The “Japanese delicacies” program, which offers free Japanese delectable dishes and runs from Apr 23 to Apr 28, aims to promote Japanese food, cuisine and companies and open up new business opportunities.