At the meeting between Permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Vo Van Thuong and Takebe Tsutomu, Special Advisor to the Japan - Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Alliance. Photo: VNA

Permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Vo Van Thuong hosted a reception for Takebe Tsutomu, Special Advisor to the Japan - Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Alliance, VOV reported.

Thuong affirmed that the two sides have mutual high political trust, which has been increasingly consolidated and enhanced. Relations through all channels such as political parties, governments, parliaments, businesses, and people have been maintained despite Covid-19-induced difficulties, he said.

The Party official appreciated Japan’s role in Vietnam’s foreign policy and thanked the Japanese Government and people for their support to Vietnam in the fight against the pandemic.

Acknowledging Takebe's positive and effective contributions to the relations between the two ruling parties and governments as well as the exchange between Vietnamese and Japanese parliamentarians and people, Thuong said he was pleased with his guest’s activities in promoting bilateral cooperation in education, training and culture in the past time.

For his part, the Japanese special advisor lauded Vietnam’s economic recovery and Covid-19 prevention and control. He said the two nations share cultural similarities and have recorded sound outcomes in educational exchanges and labour collaboration.

Takebe expressed his desire to make further practical contributions to cooperation in training high-quality human resources and increasing mutual understanding between the Japanese and Vietnamese people.

Both host and guest stressed that 2023, which marks five decades of establishing Vietnam- Japan diplomatic relations, is an occasion for the two countries to review the progress, achievements, and potential and at the same time, to set out strategic visions and orientations for the bilateral ties in a new period.

They agreed to jointly make efforts in boosting the extensive strategic partnership through concrete and practical cooperation activities supported by the two nations' people.

Vietnamese firms urged to expand ties with Japanese investors

Japan remains one of Vietnam’s largest foreign investors. Photo: economy.vn

Domestic firms should consider expanding partnerships with Japan partners in new areas like smart city and startup incubation, suggested Dr. Vo Tri Thanh, Director of the Institute of Branding and Competition Strategy, as cited by Vietnamnet.

Unleashed potential for Vietnam-Japan cooperation remains huge, he explained.

However, “we are living at a time when the frequency and intensity of uncertainties are growing,” he said, adding that changes in geopolitics and finance-monetary affairs, together with the pandemic, climate change, and natural disasters are creating new landscapes, which trigger a shift in global supply and value chains.

He highlighted several noteworthy factors in the supply chain shift that are relatively relevant to the regional situation, saying, first of all, Asia Pacific remains crucial to the global production network thanks to its competitive advantages as well as trade and investment liberalization which have been accelerated over the past several decades.

Secondly, the fourth Industrial Revolution and the digital transformation have optimized supply chains, leading to shortened or shrank supply chains, he continued.

Thirdly, geopolitical tensions like the trade dispute between the US and China, and the Covid-19 pandemic has set the scene for the development of new trends. Many countries now are more interested in strategic items like masks and medical supplies as well as in developing core technologies and identifying trusted partners.

Regarding bilateral cooperation in the value chain, Japan remains one of Vietnam’s largest foreign investors, with more than 65% of FDI flows from Japan poured into the manufacturing and processing sector in Vietnam.

The two sides have established cooperation in the areas of electronics, agricultural machinery, agricultural processing, environment, energy efficiency, shipbuilding, and supporting industries, Thanh noted.

A store of Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo in Vietnam. Photo: VIR

He advised Vietnamese firms to pay more attention to logistics, hi-tech agriculture, real estate, finance-banking, tourism, retail, aviation, information and technology, and infrastructure development which are being favored by Japanese investors.

Recently, Vietnam has consulted foreign investors in multiple sectors, particularly in improving its role in global supply chains of medical supplies which the country has competitive edges, he added.

Meanwhile, the proportion of profitable Japanese companies in Vietnam is expected to have climbed by 4.7 points in 2021, compared to 2020, equivalent to 54.3%, according to Vietnam Investment Review.

It cited the Japan Trade Promotion Organization (JETRO)’s study of 4,600 Japanese businesses operating in roughly 20 Asia-Pacific regions, including 700 in Vietnam.

According to the findings, 54.3% of Japanese enterprises in Vietnam are expected to have been profitable in 2021, up 4.7 percentage points from the previous year. While the rate of businesses that suffered losses was 28.6 percent, it was down 1.5 percentage points from the previous year.

More than 55% of Japanese businesses still want to expand their operations in Vietnam in the next 1-2 years (the highest proportion among ASEAN nations), and 42.5% of businesses plan to remain at their current size while only 1.9% want to trim down or close their operations./.

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