Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnamese Government will continue to create a favourable businessenvironment to encourage foreign investors, including those from Japan, to dolong-term business in Vietnam, said Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung.

TheDeputy PM made the statement during a reception for Masaaki Yamada, the managing executive officer and global head of the Energy and Natural Resources Finance Group at the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC),in Hanoi on March 7, during which he expressed his joy at the fruitful developmentof the Vietnam-Japan relations.

Dung highlighted that the bilateral relations are experiencing a period of strongand comprehensive development across all fields, especially in economics, trade,and investment.

Bilateral and multilateral agreements would bring many new opportunities toboth sides’ enterprises, he said.

Deputy PM Dung noted that Vietnam is calling for investment in the prioritisedfields of infrastructure and energy development, and appreciated the role ofJBIC in these spheres.

In recent years, JBIC has provided loans to promote Japanese foreign directinvestment (FDI) into Vietnam, especially for developing key infrastructure systemsand large-scale energy projects such as the Nghi Son Petrochemical Refinery complex; as well as the Nghi Son 2, Vinh Tan 4, and Duyen Hai 3 thermal powerplants.

As a financial policy institution under the JapaneseGovernment, JBIC has also joined policy dialogues with Vietnam’s ministries andsectors.

While appreciating the new cooperation suggestions of JBIC, Deputy PM Dungproposed that the Japanese bank promote negotiations to soon implement thosecooperation plans.

He also asked JBIC to consider expanding loans for Vietnamese businesses orjoint ventures between Vietnamese and Japanese firms, helping them promoteinvestment in Vietnam.

For his part, Massaki Yamada said projects using JBIC loans are being implementedeffectively.

The bank is focusing on technology transfer projects and encouraging Japanese small-and medium-sized enterprises to invest and expand their business and operationsin Vietnam, he stressed.

He noted that JBIC is likely to arrange bigger loans for Vietnamese firms,especially those developing substantial infrastructure and energy projects.

Japan hasaffirmed its role as one of the leading economic partners of Vietnam. Thecountry is the biggest provider of official development assistance (ODA)capital to Vietnam with the total amount of 30 billion USD, as well as thesecond largest foreign investor in Vietnam with some 4,200 projects valued at57 billion USD.

The East Asian country has always been one of the top fouramong the more than 200 trade partners of Vietnam. The two sides hope to lift bilateral trade to 60 billion USD in 2020.

According to a survey by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), up to70 percent of Japanese enterprises interviewed wanted to invest in Vietnam,while 66.6 percent of Japanese firms operating in Vietnam plan to expand theirproduction and business activities. –VNA