Most Japanese firms eye business expansion in Vietnam: Jetro

Japanese investors’ confidence in Vietnam is on the rise, and 55% of surveyed companies want to expand business in the country this year and the next.

Addressing a Vietnam-Japan trade and investment forum in Tokyo Wednesday, Shigetoshi Aoyama, executive vice president of the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro), said the confidence has been increasing despite adverse impacts of the pandemic.

Citing a recent Jetro survey, he said the 55% ratio of Japanese companies expecting to expand in Vietnam was the highest among Southeast Asian nations. Aoyama attributed this Japanese confidence to Vietnam’s free trade policy, as well as efforts to attract investors and improve its business environment.

Aoyama added that Jetro has received many inquiries on doing business in Vietnam after the nation loosened its entry restrictions this March.

Trade between the two countries had grown during the pandemic, with bilateral trade last year doubling the amount recorded 10 years ago, and Japan’s direct investment in Vietnam reached $3.65 billion, triple that of 2020.

Vietnamese Minister of Trade Nguyen Hong Dien called on Japanese firms to up their investments in Vietnam, then expand operations in Southeast Asia and other markets that have signed free trade agreements with Vietnam.

Dien said at the forum that the government stood “ready to listen to opinions from Japanese enterprises and investors to better improve the business environment.”

The forum was jointly organized by Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and Embassy in Japan, Jetro and the ASEAN-Japan Center (AJC).

More than 100 representatives from associations and businesses of the two countries participated in the forum. Among them were Japanese companies operating in areas of interest for Vietnam, including energy, technology, logistics, and real estate.

On the sidelines of the forum, Vietnamese conglomerate T&T Group and major Japanese trading and investment corporation Marubeni signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the energy sector.