On April 13, Secretary of Can Tho City Party Committee Le Quang Manh and leaders of the City People's Committee and representatives of departments and agencies had a meeting and worked with the delegation of the Consulate General of Japan in Ho Chi Minh City led by Mr. Watanabe Nobuhiro, Japanese Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City.
Illustrative photo (Source: vccinews.vn)
The two sides exchanged cooperation in fields of education and training, ODA projects, investment promotion, people-to-people diplomacy and foreign investment attraction; in which, the focus is on economic development cooperation.
At the meeting, Secretary Manh wished to continue receiving support from the Japanese Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City to cooperate in developing many fields, especially economic development, transport infrastructure, education and training.
Can Tho city hopes that Japanese investors will soon accelerate the implementation of high-speed railway from Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho, because this is a project that has a great impact on the life and economy of the Mekong River Delta.
Currently, Can Tho city has 6 FDI projects from Japan with a total registered investment capital of about USD1.35 billion. Investment promotion results from FDI projects in Can Tho recently have not met expectations, as many projects cannot be promoted further.
Wishing that Japanese businesses will continue to invest in Can Tho after the highways from Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho are completed, Mr. Le Quang Manh suggested that the Japanese Consul General this year continue to pay attention to maintaining forums to attract Japanese investors to Can Tho to create opportunities to inform investors about the investment environment in the city.
Mr. Le Quang Manh also wished that the cooperation in science education between Japan and Can Tho could be exploited and expanded, especially supporting academic exchanges and creating favorable conditions for young scientists to exchange and access new scientific knowledge from Japan.
It is expected that in 2022, Can Tho will create favorable conditions for airlines to connect routes from Can Tho to Tokyo and Osaka to promote relations and economic development cooperation with Japan.
Appreciating the close relationship between Vietnam and Japan, Mr. Watanabe Nobuhiro said that in 2021, the Prime Ministers of the two countries agreed to continue maintaining the cooperation and development relationship in the coming time; and economic relations are the key relationship between the two countries.
Japan is the second country in FDI investment in Vietnam. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, Japanese businesses continue to maintain investment in Vietnam; including Can Tho.
The results of surveys of parent companies in Japan show that nearly 50% of Japanese enterprises want to invest in expanding their business in Vietnam. Japanese businesses in Can Tho wish to continue to invest and expand their business locally.
According to the Consul General of Japan, Can Tho is a large city of the Mekong Delta. If the expressway is completed from Ho Chi Minh City to the provinces of the Mekong Delta, synchronized transport infrastructure will have the potential to attract FDI in the region in general and Can Tho in particular.
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, FDI investment in Can Tho in particular and Vietnam in general is still not as expected, but it is predicted that in the near future, investors will return to Vietnam.
Wishing to accompany Can Tho to attract more Japanese investors to the locality in the near future, Mr. Watanabe Nobuhiro suggested that Can Tho actively organize investment promotion conferences in Ho Chi Minh City, and create favorable conditions for Japanese investors and businesses to meet directly with the city's government and authorities.
According to information from the Can Tho Department of Foreign Affairs, in 2021, the export turnover of Can Tho to Japan was at USD169.34 million. The main export items were rice, seafood, garments, feathers, processed agricultural products, chemicals and some other items.
Particularly in the first two months of 2022, the export turnover of Can Tho to Japan was USD23.49 million. Major export items were seafood, garments, agricultural products, processed agricultural products, chemicals and some other items./.