Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has urged Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation to expand investment in infrastructure, airport transport, seaports and energy, especially renewable energy, in Vietnam. 

The leader made the suggestion at a reception for CEO and President of Mitsubishi Corporation Takehiko Kakiuchi in Hanoi on March 26, during which he stressed that the Vietnam-Japan extensive strategy partnership has developed strongly, comprehensively and practically across fields, with high mutual political trust. 

Japan was a leading economic partner, the largest official development assistance (ODA) supplier, the fourth biggest trade partner and No. 1 investor of Vietnam in 2017, he said.  

The PM affirmed that Vietnam attaches great importance to economic cooperation with Japan, noting Japanese investors’ prestige in Vietnam as well as their contributions to the country’s socio-economic development. 

However, he said, Japan’s foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam makes up only 3 percent of its total FDI in Asia, and lower than its investment in a number of Southeast Asian nations. 

The Vietnamese Government has completed institutions and mechanisms to create more favourable conditions for foreign investors, including those from Japan, the PM emphasised. 

Applauding investment and business activities of Mitsubishi in Vietnam, he suggested the corporation heed manufacturing, automobile and food processing industries in the country. 

He used the occasion to call on Vietnamese and Japanese businesses to increase exchange and cooperation in order to utilise opportunities generated by the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to which both Vietnam and Japan are members. 

In reply, Takehiko Kakiuchi applauded PM Phuc’s suggestions, saying they match his corporation’s investment strategy in Vietnam in the time to come.   

He said the great cooperation achievements between Vietnam and Japan have offered more opportunities for Japanese firms, including Mitsubishi, to intensify exchange, and expand cooperation and investment in Vietnam.  

He also called on PM Phuc and competent Vietnamese agencies to continue their support and create the best possible conditions for the corporation to invest and operate in the country.