Welcome great business opportunities with Japan

Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Central Group Mai Xuan Thong said he decided to provide free Japanese language training to at least 2,000 young people in Thanh Hoa province.

Vietnamese officials in Japan welcome Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his wife at Haneda International Airport, Tokyo - Photo: VNA

Speaking to reporters on the Hanoi - Tokyo flight, Mr. Mai Xuan Thong - who accompanied Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on both official visits to Japan, said that he was "excitedly waiting for the historic conference of Vietnamese - Japanese businessmen with nearly 1,500 business owners from both countries registered to attend, chaired by the prime ministers of both countries".

Sustainable business cooperation

* It is known that the Japanese have invested in very large projects in Thanh Hoa. So as a private enterprise, what are you interested in during this visit to Japan?

- I still have vivid memories of having the honor of accompanying Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's delegation on an official visit to Japan from May 26 to 28, 2016.

My company has had a history of business cooperation with Japanese companies, but that trip gave me great motivation and opened up many issues, especially I thought about solutions for sustainable business cooperation, contributing to the desire to connect the two economies of Vietnam and Japan, as well as receiving support from the Japanese Government and businesses to promote the industrialization and modernization of our country.

Thanh Hoa has long been an important location for Japanese investors, with a total investment of more than 12.8 billion USD to date from Japanese companies and Japanese joint ventures.

Thanh Hoa is the locality that receives the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) from Japan among 63 provinces and cities, ranking above both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

When I observed, I found that one of the biggest difficulties was the limited quality of our human resources when working with the Japanese.

That's why I'm thinking that my province is still poor, the state budget to support this field is limited, if I have the means, I should contribute.

We become a pioneer economic unit in human resource training, first of all training Japanese for workers to remove language barriers.

Mien Trung Group has signed an agreement with Thanh Hoa Industrial Vocational College to provide free Japanese language training for local students and workers for 4 years (2017-2020). We do not bind the learners but let them serve the needs of Japanese investors implementing projects in Thanh Hoa.

* So what benefits do you get by spending money to train thousands of people in Japanese for free?

- Honestly, when I made this decision, as I said above, it came from my thoughts when I participated in the visit to Japan last year, without any specific calculations for myself. We also do not force students to work for the group after being trained.

I believe that if I contribute to creating the best investment environment for Japanese businesses to do business right in my homeland, I myself will also benefit from the projects they are implementing and cooperating with me.

* Did you sign any specific agreements during this visit to Japan?

- There are a few projects that I cannot disclose yet. As for the waste treatment projects, we are focusing on discussing with our Japanese partners and will implement them right after this trip.

Currently, the technology for treating domestic waste in Vietnam is mainly landfilling, causing many consequences and environmental pollution that is very difficult to overcome.

In the past, we have cooperated with Daiei Environmental Corporation, they have come to Vietnam 5 times and we have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a joint venture between the Central Group and Daiei to expand waste treatment throughout Vietnam, focusing on Thanh Hoa province.

Last March, the two sides held a workshop to propose solutions to environmental problems in Thanh Hoa.

Representatives of Daiei Environmental Corporation proposed and introduced "waste-to-energy burning technology" for waste treatment in Sam Son City, which was highly appreciated by representatives of Vietnamese authorities.

Mr. Mai Xuan Thong. Photo: Le Kien

I learned a lot from Japanese people.

* What did you learn from working with the Japanese?

- We learned a lot from the Japanese, first of all their working style and attitude are very serious.

The first time I met the Japanese, I found them to be rigid and principled, but when I got down to work, I found that seriousness is worth learning because it brings efficiency to work.

Japanese technology and Japanese business management skills are things that we still need a lot of time to learn. Another thing I feel is that Japanese people respect their partners very much.

* What do you expect from the cooperation and business opportunities of the two countries' business communities through this visit of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc?

- I think that within just one year, the Prime Minister visited Japan twice, proving that the leaders of the two countries are making great efforts to implement solutions to connect the two economies.

Not only me but also businessmen think that this is the best opportunity for Vietnamese and Japanese businesses to cooperate with each other. Vietnam and Japan are cooperating in business with each other like two close friends.

We are all looking forward to the unprecedented event of a meeting of nearly 1,500 businesses from the two countries with the two prime ministers.

Through local reality, I affirm that there are still many fields and good business opportunities in Vietnam for Japanese investors.

This conference will certainly bring a lot of confidence to Japanese businesses and our businesses.