VietNamNet Bridge – The earthquake and
tsunami have not affected the business of Vietnamese enterprises in Vietnam.
Japanese goods still continue to go to Vietnam.

Manh Hung,
Business Director of Akuhuri shop chain, which specializes in distributing
imports from Japan, said
that all kinds of Japanese goods, from fresh, frozen and processed cooking to
consumer goods, are still being imported from Japan
in order to satisfy the demand in HCM
City and other provinces.
The goods available at Akuruhi chain are imported from different regions in Japan. Hung
said that the goods imported from earthquake stricken areas and neighboring
regions are inconsiderable and if necessary, they can be replaced with the
goods made in other localities in Japan which have the same quality.

He went on
to say that in the last few days, those people who like Japanese food, drinks
and products which bear Japanese culture characteristics, all want to share sympathy
with Japanese people about the earthquake and tsunami catastrophe and they have
purchased many Japanese goods.

Mai Phuong,
Deputy Director of Viet Ha Chi Company, the owner of Hachi-Hachi one-price shop
chain has said that the chain placed orders four months ago, and that the
imports mainly come from Osaka and southern provinces of Japan, therefore,
Japanese goods are on the way to Vietnam.

Also
according to Phuong, in previous years, April was the time for “Japanese
spring” sales promotion programmes. However, in the next April, Viet Ha Chi
will launch a special sales programme “heading Japan”, under which Viet Ha Chi
will use a part of the profit from the programme to send donations to Japanese
families which suffered from the catastrophe.

According
to Akito Tachibana, General Director of Toyota Vietnam, the automobile manufacturer has to halt
the operation of all its factories in Japan, including the factories that
make car parts and accessories on the days from March 14 to March 16. Therefore,
the output of Toyota’s
cars will decrease by 40,000 cars.

However, in
the long term, the production plan of Toyota in Vietnam will not be influenced, and it will
strictly follow the commitments of doing business for a long term in Vietnam. This
means that the current difficulties will not affect Toyota’s
strategies in Vietnam.

An officer
of Hoya Glass Disk Vietnam
in Bac Thang Long Industrial Zone also said that he cannot see any signs of
possible changes in the business plan in Vietnam, and all the workers of the
company feel safe about their jobs.

Meanwhile,
Vietnamese businesses believe that their business will be affected by the
catastrophe in Japan.
Pham Xuan Hong, General Director of Saigon 3 Garment Company said though its
partners still ask the company to fulfill the signed contracts, in the long
term, high quality products will meet difficulties in the Japanese when
Japanese people have to tighten their belt. Le Van Quang, General Director of
Minh Phu Seafood Company is also worried that high grade shrimp exports to the
market will decrease.

In related
news, Bao Viet Securities Company has released a report, advising investors to
withdraw capital from the companies that make natural rubber. The fact that a
series of automobile manufacturers in Japan,
including Honda, Toyota,
Nissan have halted operation to deal with the consequences of the tsunami has
raised the worries about the decrease of the demand for natural rubber in 2011.

Source: Saigon
Tiep thi