Vietnam 'at center of Asia - world’s growth engine'

Asia is the world’s growth engine, and Vietnam is at the center of that engine, said governor Saito Motohiko of Japan's Hyogo prefecture on the occasion of his recent visit to Ho Chi Minh City.

The governor was speaking at the fifth HCMC-Hyogo Economic Forum with the participation of HCMC People’s Committee representatives and businesspeople from the Vietnamese city and Hyogo.

"Asia is widely regarded as the world’s growth engine, and Vietnam, with its hardworking people and large young population, is at the center of this engine," Motohiko told the forum.

Vietnam's real GDP growth rate in the third quarter of this year was 5.33% year-on-year. While the country’s economy is growing steadily, the public and private sectors are working together to achieve a major goal of reaching net zero emission by 2050. Hyogo has many companies working on advanced technological development toward the same goal, he added.

Friendly exchanges between HCMC and Hyogo prefecture began in 2004, inspired by a visit to Hyogo by Nguyen Minh Triet, former Vietnamese President, who was then Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee.

The letter of intent regarding the friendship and cooperation, which was signed in 2007, led to the holding of the HCMC-Hyogo Economic Forum in 2017, which has been held alternately in both locations.

2023 marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan. A large number of deals signed and high interest shown by Japanese businesses during Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s recent trip to Japan is expected to trigger a new investment wave into Vietnam.