Ho Chi Minh City, the largest economic hub in Vietnam, has implementedvarious innovative and effective measures in a bid to attract moreJapanese investment, radio The Voice of Vietnam reported on February 21.

Itis currently calling on Japanese businesses to invest in suchprioritised areas as chemicals, mechanical engineering, food andfoodstuff, and especially support industries, using high andenvironmentally friendly technology.

Efficient Japanese operations

TheHCM City Export Processing and Industrial Zone Authority (Hepza)reports that in 2013, Japanese capital topped the list of foreigninvestment in the city.

Japanese businesses registering foroperation expansion include Saigon Precision Ltd Company at Ling TrungIndustrial Zone, and Nidec Tosok Ltd Company and Juki Ltd Company at TanThuan IZ.

Hepza Chairman Vu Van Hoa said the city has 504foreign direct investment (FDI) projects, including 112 from Japan.Japan ranks third among foreign investors in the city with a combinedcapital of more than 3 billion USD, including 1.3 billion USD inindustry.

The city has fostered trade promotion both at home andin Japan to introduce its potential and attract further Japaneseinvestment. A large number of seminars, exhibitions, conferences andmeetings have been held between the city and Japanese businesses.Earlier this year, two investment promotion seminars were organised andwell attended by businesses from both sides.

Yasuzumi Hirotaka,Chief Representative from the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO),said Japanese businesses are tending to shift their investment fromregional countries to Vietnam to capitalise on lower labour costs.

Thisis a big opportunity for Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City in particular toattract Japanese investment. However, Japanese businesses are lacking ininformation about Vietnam’s investment environment that needs to beaddressed very soon.

Strong commitments

At regulardialogues, municipal leaders always stressed they create the bestpossible conditions for Japanese businesses to invest and operate in thecity.

In September 2013, the city granted an investment licenceto Vietnam-Japan Technique Ltd Company – a joint venture between Japan’sVie-Pan Industrial Park and Vietnam’s Hiep Phuoc Industrial ParkCompany, to build a Vietnam-Japan technology park (Vie-Pan Techno Park)on 13ha in the first phase and then expand to 100ha in the second phaseto house Japanese businesses.

Le Manh Ha, Vice Chairman of themunicipal People’s Committee, said this is a new model to attractJapanese capital. The project meets the city’s demand for building aspecial high-tech park for Japanese businesses only.

Vie-PanTechno Park will not only provide workshops but also other convenientservices, such as recruitment, investment consultancy, accounting,training, and management consultancy. These services will help Japaneseinvestors save preparatory time and integrate and operate more smoothly.

The first phase of the park valued at 7.6 million USD will be completed in September.

Expertssay the new model will meet demand for receiving high qualityinvestment resources from Japan to Vietnam in the future and take fulladvantage of available competitiveness at nearby Hiep Phuoc IZ.

Withits available advantages and incentives in place, Ho Chi Minh City isnow ready to welcome a new investment wave from Japanese businesses inthe future.-VNA