Hung Yen province promotes activities to attract investment from Japan

Photo caption — Mr. Nguyen Hung Nam, Vice Chairman of Hung Yen Provincial People's Committee delivered the opening speech at the conference. Photo: Pham Tuan/VNA reporter in Japan

The conference was organized by Hung Yen province in coordination with the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, the ASEAN - Japan Center and Thang Long II Industrial Park Co., Ltd. to introduce the strengths of Hung Yen province to Japanese enterprises as well as answer questions related to the local investment environment.

Speaking at the opening of the conference, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hung Yen province, Mr. Nguyen Hung Nam, said that in recent years, Hung Yen has always maintained a high economic growth rate compared to the average of Vietnam and the world. He said that along with ensuring good technical infrastructure, social infrastructure, business environment, the province's competitiveness has been rapidly improved, in parallel with promoting administrative reform, improving the quality of public services and people's satisfaction. With an increasingly improved investment and business environment, Hung Yen is currently receiving great attention from domestic and international investors.

Vice Chairman Nguyen Hung Nam emphasized that Hung Yen province is paying attention to developing green industry associated with environmental protection, with a focus on attracting investment in the following fields: high technology, electronics industry, semiconductors, clean industry, energy saving and environmental friendliness.

According to Mr. Nguyen Hung Nam, currently, Japan is the country and territory with the largest number of projects and investment capital in Hung Yen province with 190 projects with a total registered capital of nearly 6.4 billion USD.

Representative of the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, Minister Counselor Nguyen Sau said that Vietnam and Japan have more than 100 pairs of localities that have established friendly relations, in which Hung Yen and Japanese localities such as Kanagawa province and Nikaho city (Akita province) are typical examples, vividly reflecting the spirit of increasingly deep and substantive cooperation. The representative of the Vietnamese Embassy expressed his belief that Hung Yen will continue to become a symbol for the wave of high-quality investment cooperation between Vietnam and Japan in the coming time.

Speaking at the conference, Secretary General of the ASEAN - Japan Center (AJC), Dr. Kunihiko Hirabayashi shared his memories with Hung Yen and good impressions of the people as well as famous products of Hung Yen.

Dr. Kunihiko Hirabayashi commented that Hung Yen has changed dramatically, from an agricultural area to a high-tech industrial center located in the Hanoi metropolitan area with more than 50 Japanese enterprises operating successfully in Thang Long Industrial Park II.

He assessed that what makes Hung Yen stand out is the leadership of the provincial government, which is transparent, responsive and responsible in monitoring and supporting businesses. He said that it is the sincere listening to investors, including foreign businesses, and efforts to improve policies based on practical feedback that have built deep trust and stable investment flows. According to Dr. Kunihiko Hirabayashi, the province's commitment to green growth, carbon emission reduction and high-tech innovation is very much in line with Japan's strengths in the fields of technology and human resource development.

In an interview with VNA reporters, Mr. Kenta Kawanabe, General Director of Thang Long Industrial Park II Co., Ltd., Sumitomo Group, said the group's investment decision stemmed from the fact that many manufacturing enterprises, including Japanese companies, have been investing heavily in Vietnam, especially in Hung Yen province.

Mr. Kenta Kawanabe commented that Hung Yen province has a great advantage in terms of geographical location with a well-built and completed connecting traffic system. Within the province, traffic infrastructure and facilities are also being increasingly improved and expanded.

Mr. Kawanabe said that Hung Yen has a favorable investment environment and highly appreciated the province's support for foreign enterprises. He said that the industrial park has a directly responsible Industrial Park Management Board, operating under a "one-stop" mechanism, and always enthusiastically supporting administrative procedures. He said that the provincial leaders maintain a very good relationship with foreign enterprises and when foreign investors encounter difficulties or need support, the provincial leaders always enthusiastically listen and help.

He raised two points that he hoped to see further improvement, namely the stability of power sources and human resources. According to him, although Vietnam's economy is growing strongly, the demand for electricity increases every year, but the supply is still not enough to meet this growth rate. Therefore, he expressed his hope that the government can support in ensuring a stable power source.

Regarding human resources, according to him, the biggest attraction of Vietnam is its people. Enterprises have high expectations for Vietnamese human resources and highly appreciate the quality of Vietnamese human resources. However, recruiting and ensuring enough high-quality workers is becoming increasingly difficult. Therefore, he hopes that local authorities will pay more attention and support in training and ensuring high-quality, skilled human resources.

He said the group plans to expand the existing industrial park. In addition, the group is developing new business areas in the industrial park, specifically renewable energy - such as rooftop solar power, floating solar power, battery storage systems, and the Direct Power Purchase Agreement (DPPA) that the Vietnamese Government is promoting.

Sharing with VNA reporters, Director of Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company No. 18.3 (LICOGI 18.3), Mr. Luu Tuan Khanh expressed his wish for foreign enterprises to invest in Hung Yen province to create more job opportunities for construction enterprises in the province. He said that LICOGI 18.3, a construction enterprise with a tradition of over 60 years in Hung Yen province, is a unit that both designs and constructs, so it can support investors with legal procedures to invest in the most convenient way.

At the conference, representatives of Japanese and Vietnamese enterprises presented papers introducing investment activities as well as investment opportunities in Hung Yen.

During the Q&A session, Japanese business representatives asked questions about attracting high-tech investment, supporting industries, stable power source capacity, industrial waste treatment, etc. Mr. Vu Quoc Nghi, Head of the Management Board of Industrial Parks of Hung Yen province, gave detailed answers, clearly stating the advantages and the points that Hung Yen is trying to overcome, as well as the priority areas and investment strengths in Hung Yen.

The conference ended with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony between Thang Long II Industrial Park Co., Ltd. and Sanyo Denki Company.