Vietnam and Japan advocating financial cooperation
Vietnam and Japan advocating financial cooperation
The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance redoubled efforts to draw ties closer with Japan, aiming to ramp up cooperation on the intergovernmental and private investment levels at the same time. To this end did the two sides hold a meeting of the two nations’ ministries of Finance and an investment promotion conference for Japanese enterprises.
On August 21, at the meeting with Soichiro Imaeda, Japanese Deputy Minister of Finance cum Japanese Secretary of State, Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung issued a sincere invitation to the Japanese Minister of Finance to the APEC Finance Ministers’ Process, which will take place in October 2017 in the central province of Quang Nam's Hoi An.
Minister Dung proposed the Japanese Ministry of Finance to support the financial cooperation initiatives of the APEC 2017. Currently, Vietnam has become the 100th official member of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) programme and he hopes to secure the support of the Japanese Ministry of Finance.
He also proposed the Japanese government to consider providing Vietnam with official development asisstance (ODA) funds to replace the hardware of Vietnam Automated Cargo and Port Consolidated System (VNACCS/CIS), because this system will be out of date by 2018.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance’s delegate also held a meeting on investment promotion. This was a precious chance to meet and exchange information with about 200 investors from Japan. Many big enterprises, such as Nikkei Inc., The Bank of Yokohama, Daiwa Securities Group Inc., Sumitomo Corporation, and Hitachi Group, attended the meeting and directly obtained trusted information from leaders of the finance, securities, stocks, and insurance industries in Vietnam.
Keiko Tashiro, board member of Daiwa Securities Group Inc., said that Vietnam has many favourable conditions to lure in foreign investment and if the Vietnamese government expands the room for foreign capital and promises to establish a transparent, favourable, and safe business environment, there will be a stronger wave of foreign investment.
At present, Japan is ranked second, with a total investment of $46.47 billion, of the 122 countries and territories that have foreign direct investment in Vietnam.
According to Minister Dung, the capital flows from Japan are highly appreciated, but they are still small compared to their potential. During 2017-2019, hundreds of enterprises in Vietnam will be equitised and the recently launched derivatives market also promises to be a new playground and a big chance for foreign investors.
Regarding enterprises’ activities, on August 22, big enterprises from Vietnam, such as Vinamilk, Bao Viet Insurance Corporation, Novaland, Vingroup, and Sabeco, have a bilateral meeting with Japanese investors with the hope of strengthening Japanese capital flows to the financial and securities markets.
