Japanese firms express intentions to invest in Hanoi

Japanese firms expressed intention in investing in Hanoi

This was announced by Japanese firms at the workshop on investment and tourism co-operation between Hanoi and Japan organised by the Hanoi People’s Committee in collaboration with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam this morning in Hanoi.

The event saw the participation of a series of leading Japanese firms, namely Fukuyama Transporting Co., Ltd., Hiroshima Toyota Motor Co., Ltd., Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., Eiki Shoji, and Nihon Seikagaku Kenkyuji, among others.

According to a representative of Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA), 70 per cent of Japanese enterprises operating in Vietnam intend to expand their operations in Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular within the next two years. Almost all of them eye key investment sectors, including transport, power, infrastructure and agriculture.

Talking about expanding operations in Vietnam, Seiichi Nishie, member of the board of consultancy directors at Hiroshima Toyota Motor Co., Ltd., the distributor of Toyota, stated, “Hiroshima Toyota entered Ho Chi Minh City via opening a distribution agency 20 years ago. 14 years later, we opened another one in the northern province of Vinh Phuc. At present, seeing the development of transport infrastructure in Vietnam and in Hanoi, we are looking to open a distribution agency in Hanoi, our third in Vietnam.”

“We want to co-operate with Vietnamese partners to develop an entertainment facility in Hanoi. We have capital, machinery, and technology, however, at present, we do not yet have a representative office as well as partners in Vietnam. Thus, at first, we want to look for a Vietnamese partner via the support of the Hanoi People’s Committee, and then we will discuss about the form of co-operation,” Ryuichi Osada, manager of Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.

Along with new investment plans, Japanese firms proposed the Hanoi People’s Committee to shorten the time to grant investment certificates and simplify administration procedures for investment certificates and business registration licences. Besides, Hanoi and Japan will collaborate to organise more investment and trade promotion events.

"Hiroshima Toyota Motor hopes that the city authorities will create favourable conditions for us to complete procedures soon, instead of in five years as we did in Ho Chi Minh City 20 years ago," Nishie said.

Nguyen Duc Chung, Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee stated, “We commit to supply the business registration licences for enterprises which registered via internet within one day. Regarding the investment certificate, investors will receive the investment certificate for their projects 35 days after they complete necessary administration procedures.”

In the framework of this year's event, Japanese firms were given memoranda of co-operation with Hanoi authorities, two outstanding of which are the commitment to survey and study to build a logistics system in Hanoi between Hanoi Promotion Agency and Fukuyama Transporting Co., Ltd, and the commitment to study and transfer the technology in processing panel between Hanoi Promotion Agency and Eiki Shoji Co., Ltd.

This is the third year that the workshop on investment and tourism co-operation between Hanoi and Japan has been organised.

After the workshops in 2016 and 2017, Japanese investors registered 226 new projects with the total investment capital of $981 million in Hanoi. Among those, the remarkable projects of Nidec’s $500 million electric motor and power-saving moving part research and manufacturing projects, and Japanese giant shopping mall developer AEON Mall Co., Ltd’s AEON Mall Hadong are at present under construction.