Vietnam - Destination for Japanese investors

Japan has the largest foreign direct investment in Vietnam with a total capital of 35.4 billion USD.

On April 25, the Investment Promotion Conference in Vietnam called “Vietnam - Destination for Japanese Investors” was officially held in Tokyo, Japan.

Minister Dinh Tien Dung

Speaking at the opening of the Conference, Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung said that Vietnam and Japan have a long-standing relationship and many cultural similarities. In modern history, after more than 40 years of cooperation between Vietnam and Japan, the economic, investment, financial and trade cooperation between the two countries has been strongly promoted. Especially after the recent State visit to Japan, the leaders of the two countries agreed to upgrade the Vietnam-Japan strategic partnership to an extensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia.

According to Minister Dinh Tien Dung, Japan is the country with the largest FDI capital in Vietnam with a total capital of up to 35.4 billion USD. Two-way trade between Vietnam and Japan in 2013 reached 25.3 billion USD, of which Vietnam had a trade surplus of 2 billion USD. Over the past 20 years, Japan has also been the country providing the largest ODA loans to Vietnam with a total committed capital of up to more than 21 billion USD, focusing on large-scale infrastructure projects. Most of Japan's major financial groups have a presence in Vietnam. The number of Japanese investor accounts currently accounts for a very large proportion, 40% of the total number of foreign investor accounts trading on the Vietnamese stock market. The Minister also affirmed that Japanese investors play a very important role in the development of the Vietnamese economy. Vietnam recognizes and highly appreciates the role of Japanese financial corporations and investors.

The Minister also reviewed the economic situation in Vietnam, the reform of state-owned enterprises and the process of economic restructuring. The Minister affirmed that the Vietnamese Government is determined to accelerate the reform of state-owned enterprises, especially focusing on equitization associated with listing, and divestment of non-core investments of state-owned enterprises to improve operational efficiency. According to the Minister, legal issues and policies to accelerate the restructuring of state-owned enterprises have been and are being completed, the Government has directed state-owned enterprises to develop and implement the correct equitization roadmap. Accordingly, from now until the end of 2015, Vietnam plans to equitize 432 enterprises, including many large corporations and state-owned enterprises that are looking for strategic investors to equitize this year.

Regarding the Vietnamese stock market, the Vietnamese Government pays special attention to the sustainable development of the Vietnamese stock market. In 2013, the VNIndex increased by 22% and was one of the stock markets with the strongest recovery in the world. The Vietnamese bond market was assessed as the best developed in Asia in 2013. In the first quarter of 2014, the VNIndex increased by 16%, ranking 2nd in the world and liquidity increased nearly 2 times compared to the average in 2013.

The restructuring of Vietnam's stock market has achieved positive results in four main pillars: commodity base, investor base, securities trading organizations and market organization system. In the process of restructuring the stock market, the Vietnamese Government attaches special importance to foreign indirect investment capital flows. In the coming time, Vietnam is studying and reviewing the list of industries, and expanding foreign participation in non-specialized fields with restrictions according to WTO commitments. To attract foreign capital flows, the Minister said that Vietnam is amending the Investment Law, at the same time allowing an increase in the ownership ratio of foreign investors in joint stock banks, and reducing the ownership ratio of state-owned corporations and groups in corporations and groups including banks to no more than 65%. The Vietnamese Government is also considering expanding the investment ratio for foreign investors in the stock market.

According to Chairman of the State Securities Commission Vu Bang, the investment promotion event in Japan aims at three main goals: first, affirming the Government's strong message in institutional reform, developing a stable and transparent Vietnamese economy and committing to supporting Japanese investors in investment activities in Vietnam. Second, the event is an opportunity to listen to Japanese investors and clarify the difficulties in mechanisms and policies of investors in the process of investing in Vietnam. In addition, with the participation of the Working Group of many large enterprises about to be equitized, this event aims to connect potential Japanese investors with investment opportunities in Vietnamese enterprises in the process of equitization, capital increase, and finding strategic investors.

At the Workshop, Deputy Head of the Government Office Pham Viet Muon also shared the message that the Vietnamese Government always welcomes foreign investors to participate in economic reform, especially the reform of the state-owned enterprises, the banking system and the stock market. In response to the interest of many Japanese investors, many group or One-One meetings between enterprises about to be equitized and potential Japanese investors took place in the Workshop space. Many Japanese investors expressed their excitement about new investment opportunities in Vietnam and wanted to know more information about enterprises and the economy to decide to enter this market.

In his closing speech at the conference, Minister Dinh Tien Dung affirmed that the conference helped Japanese enterprises and investors better understand the situation in Vietnam and the Vietnamese Government's innovation policy. The conference was also an opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises and Vietnamese Government agencies to grasp recommendations from Japanese enterprises to continue to improve mechanisms and policies, demonstrating the special commitment of the Vietnamese Government to Japanese investors.

The conference attracted nearly 100 Japanese investors, including representatives of many large prestigious investment organizations, such as SBI Group, Sumitomo, Daiwa, Misubishi, Mizuho, ​​Normura, Resona, JP Morgan, Aizawa...

The conference focused on two main topics: “Policy Dialogue: Equitization of State-owned Enterprises and the policy of economic restructuring” and “Vietnam’s stock market - a destination for Japanese investors”./.

According to vov