LookAtVietnam – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has lauded Japan’s commitment to help Viet Nam with customs technology, public-private partnership, and support industry, human resource and green development.

The latest Japanese commitments to Vietnamese development are part of a joint initiative for which an action plan was signed following a meeting of the Joint Committee of the Viet Nam-Japan Joint Initiative.

Dung pledged full support for the freshly inked action plan during his meeting with Kato Susumu, president of the Japan-Viet Nam Economic Committee, under the Japan Federation of Economic Organisations (Keidanren).

He added that the Vietnamese Government was instructing relevant agencies to implement agreements reached by the two countries during the recent visit by Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, which included the construction of a nuclear energy plant and joint exploitation of rare earth minerals.

Dung thanked the Japanese government for continuing its official development assistance to Viet Nam, even though it is having to overcome the economic and logistical hardships caused by recent natural disasters.

A strategic partnership signed by the two countries has seen Japan become one of the Viet Nam’s biggest foreign investors and trade partners.

Susumu said the first three phases of the joint initiative, of which the latest aid is the fourth, had increased foreign investment in Viet Nam.

He pointed out that Japanese investors anticipated great improvements in Viet Nam’s customs procedures at border gates and more effective use of public-private partnership agreements in the future.

On the same day, Politburo member and Permanent Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam’s Central Committee Truong Tan Sang said he highly valued the positive contributions made by the Viet Nam-Japan Economic Committee to the development of bilateral relations while receiving Chairman of the committee Susumu.

Sang affirmed Viet Nam’s policy to improve the investment environment and create favourable conditions to attract both Japanese and international capital resources.

Susumo replied that the fourth period of the initiative would enhance Viet Nam’s economic competitiveness.

Joint initiative with Japan enters fourth phase

The action plan Viet Nam and Japan signed yesterday focused on power, customs procedures, macro-economy, intellectual property, cooking safety and infrastructure.

The document was the outcome of a meeting held by the Joint Committee of the Viet Nam-Japan Joint Initiative which saw senior officials deliberate measures for the fourth phase of the initiative.

The action plan calls on project or programme executives to take the initiative in all steps, from drafting joint concrete measures to exchanging experiences and views, updating progress, consulting each other on measures and jointly resolving problems.

Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc said the fields included in the action plan had always taken a lot of energy and investment by the Vietnamese Government in order to improve the investment and business climate.

“Viet Nam-Japan co-operation has made an important contribution to Viet Nam’s global integration into the economy, pushing up bilateral investment and trade,” he said.

Japanese Ambassador Yasuaki Tanizaki emphasised that the two sides should strengthen joint efforts in drawing investment from third countries and fully tap potential to boost two-way trade.

“Japan will focus its aid to Viet Nam on building the electric general chart No 7,” he said.

The Viet Nam-Japan joint initiative was raised by the Prime Ministers of the two countries in April, 2003 in an effort to help Viet Nam improve its investment and business environment and increase its competitive edge.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News