Vietnam and Japan ink 30 cooperation documents at joint economic forum

These documents were focused on the fields of infrastructure development of industrial parks, urban areas, commercial centers, green hydrogen production, battery production, energy, finance, digital transformation, and human resource development.

Notably, Secretary of the Thai Binh Provincial Party Committee Ngo Dong Hai awarded an Investment Registration Certificate of Thai Binh LNG thermal power plant project to a consortium of Tokyo Gas, Kyuden Group, and Truong Thanh Group (Vietnam). This is a large-scale project with a design capacity of 1,500 MW and a total investment of nearly US$2 billion.

Among other documents were a cooperation document on infrastructure construction at Van Phong Economic Zone in Khanh Hoa province between Sun Group and Japanese partners, and an MoU on supporting the process of carbon emission reduction and domestic energy transition as well as supporting Japanese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to enter the market between the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank For Industry And Trade (Vietinbank) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh addresses the Vietnam - Japan economic forum in Tokyo on December 16

The exchange of the cooperation documents was witnessed by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh who is paying a working trip to Japan for a commemorative summit marking 50 years of the friendship and cooperation between ASEAN and Japan.

Addressing the forum, Chinh emphasized that the recent upgrade of Vietnam – Japan relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership is an important political foundation to further expand bilateral cooperation in new areas where both sides have strengths.

As Vietnam is in the process of national industrialization and modernization, as well as deeper international integration, he said it needs foreign resources, including financial support, advanced technology transfer and modern management experience, and human resource training.

Reviewing the world’s complicated situation, the PM likened Vietnam to a safe haven during the height of the storm and called on Japanese businesses to continue to invest and succeed in Vietnam, emphasizing that investors’ success is also Vietnam’s success.

Nguyen Tan Tuan, chairman of the Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee witnesses Sun Group awarding a construction cooperation agreement at Van Phong Economic Zone with Taisei Group, and investment cooperation agreement in medical and health care facilities with Well Group at Van Phong economic zone.

At the forum, leaders of Japanese ministries, organizations and businesses highly appreciated Vietnam’s development potential and showed their interest in cooperation and investment in the Southeast Asian country in various fields, especially future industries, carbon emissions reduction. They presented orientations and proposals for cooperation and investment in green development and digital transformation in Vietnam in the coming time.

Japan has so far poured over US$71.5 billion into more than 5,200 investment projects in most localities in Vietnam. Their investments were centred on a number of key fields such as production and manufacturing; electronic components; research and development; finance; biotechnology; quantum technology; artificial intelligence; and mew generation health care.

Two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Japan hit more than US$40 billion in the January –November 2023 period. Japan is the partner that has signed the most bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with Vietnam, creating an important foundation to promote trade and investment relations between the two countries.

Source: VOV