Vietnam-Japan Investment Forum held in Kanagawa prefecture

Jointly held by the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan and the administrations of Vietnam's northern Ha Nam and Bac Ninh provinces, the event aimed to promote Japanese investment in the Southeast Asian country in the future.

Opening the event, Ambassador Pham Quang Hieu underlined that Japan is a leading economic partner and largest ODA provider of Vietnam. The country is also the second labour partner, the third biggest tourist market and fourth largest trading partner of Vietnam.

An overview of the forum (Photo: VNA)

Investors from Japan in general and Kanagawa in particular have played an important part in Vietnam's foreign direct investment attraction process over the past 35 years, he noted.

Nguyen Anh Chuc, Standing Vice Chairman of the Ha Nam People's Committee, highlighted the potential of the province in the fields of processing industry, information technology, automobile manufacturing, agricultural machinery and equipment, electric and electronic equipment, tourism and services.

He also underlined measures that the locality is applying to lure more foreign investment, including developing infrastructure system, and providing support to investors in human resources, and holding dialogues with them to settle obstacles facing them.

Meanwhile, Le Thi Thu Huyen, Vice Director of the Management Board of Bac Ninh Industrial Parks, said that Bac Ninh has been one of the 10 leading localities across the country in terms of FDI attraction.

As of 2022, Bac Ninh had lured nearly 2,000 FDI projects worth 24.4 billion USD, she said, adding that 70% of the projects are in the fields of processing and manufacturing industries.

So far, the province is home to more than 100 Japanese-invested projects with total capital of 1.67 billion USD, making Japan the third largest out of 39 countries and territories investing in Bac Ninh.

Huyen also introduced a number of incentives that Bac Ninh has offered to foreign investors, including a 10% tax cut in 15 years and exemption of corporate income tax in four years as well as a 50% cut in the following nine years.

Meanwhile, Kanagawa Governor Kuroiwa Yuji said that the forum was a good chance for local firms to update Vietnam's investment environment and make their plans to invest in the country in the future.

He hoped more Kanagawa businesses will choose Vietnam as their investment destination, thus making contributions to the cooperation between the two countries.

The forum was the first of a series of events within the framework of the Vietnam Days in Kanagawa in 2023 from September 8-10./.