JETRO: Many Japanese firms want to expand investment in Vietnam

Ishige told Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reporters in Tokyo that Japanese enterprises have pointed out three advantages when investing in Vietnam, including socio-political stability, large-scale and promising market and low-cost labour. 

In 2015-2016, Japanese companies paid due attention to such fields as retail, hotels, restaurants and construction in Vietnam, the JETRO Chairman said. 

He noted that JETRO has organised workshops, released survey results and given advice to Japanese small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who want to directly invest in Vietnam at JETRO offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Ishige added that 399 out of 4,533 Japanese businesses participating in a project launched by JETRO which aims to assist Japanese SMEs said that they want to invest in the Vietnamese market. Meanwhile, 985 Japanese firms have been interested in operating in the Southeast Asian nation. 

According to JETRO’s survey on the international operations of Japanese firms in the 2016 fiscal year which ended on March 31, 2017, Vietnam has emerged as one of Japan’s most important export markets, together with the US and Western Europe.

Accordingly, 7.6% of the surveyed Japanese businesses chose Vietnam as the most important export market, as compared with 3% recorded in 2012. China took the lead with 19.8%, followed by the US with 15.5%. 

Among investment destinations cited by companies intending to expand business overseas, Vietnam ranked fourth with 32.4%, up from 28.7%. China and Thailand continued to rank first and second place, although the rate of responses for the two countries decreased respectively to 53.7% from 56.5% the year before and to 41.7% from 44.0%. The US claimed the third place at 33.7%, from 31.3%.

Among 70 Japanese firms which moved their investment from other countries to ASEAN in the 2016 fiscal year, up to 38 turned their attention to Vietnam.