The journey 'from heart to heart' and billion-dollar Vietnam-Japan agreements
Báo Dân trí•21/12/2023
(Dan Tri) - More than 30 cooperation documents worth nearly 3 billion USD and 3 ODA cooperation projects worth 200 million USD are the "sweet fruits" of the Prime Minister's working trip to Japan, continuing the journey "from heart to heart".
Since 1977, former Prime Minister Fukuda Takeo has proposed the "heart-to-heart" doctrine, laying the foundation for the strong development of relations between Japan and ASEAN, including the Vietnam-Japan relationship. Speaking at the ASEAN-Japan Summit, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh added the concept of "from action to action, from emotion to effectiveness" to the development orientation of ASEAN-Japan relations in the new situation. And after 50 years, that "heart-to-heart" journey has gradually brought about results. Many "sweet fruits" were also signed during the working trip of the head of the Vietnamese Government when he came to the land of the rising sun this time. At the Vietnam - Japan Economic Forum with the participation of more than 500 typical Japanese enterprises, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh conveyed the message of requesting Japanese enterprises to increase investment in Vietnam, and witnessed the exchange of more than 30 cooperation documents between ministries, sectors and enterprises of the two countries, worth nearly 3 billion USD. ODA cooperation between the two countries continued to be vibrant when the two Prime Ministers witnessed the exchange of documents signing 3 ODA cooperation projects with a total value of more than 200 million USD. On December 16, the auditorium holding the Vietnam - Japan Economic Forum in Tokyo was full. Many businesses and investors from both countries even stood for hours to watch the event. At the Forum, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh witnessed the handover ceremony of 30 agreements and cooperation documents between ministries, agencies and businesses of Vietnam and Japan. In particular, Secretary of Thai Binh Provincial Party Committee Ngo Dong Hai presented the investment registration certificate for the LNG Power Plant Project to a consortium of 3 investors: Tokyo Gas Company, North Kyuden Electric Power Company of Japan and Truong Thanh Group of Vietnam. This gas power project has a total investment of about 2 billion USD, with a capacity of 1,500 MW, using modern and highly efficient gas turbine and combined cycle power generation technology, the main fuel used is imported liquefied natural gas (LNG). Sharing with Dan Tri reporter, Central Party Committee member, Thai Binh Provincial Party Secretary Ngo Dong Hai emphasized that the granting of investment registration certificate for this 2 billion USD project is one of the contributions to the success of the Vietnam - Japan Economic Forum in particular and the visit and working visit of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Japan in general. This is also an opportunity to affirm the achievements of the economic and investment cooperation process between Vietnam and Japan in general, including the efforts to attract Japanese investors of Thai Binh province. "For Thai Binh, this is the largest foreign investment project ever. The project is of great significance, in addition to contributing to restructuring, improving the economic scale of the province, contributing to increasing budget revenue, creating jobs, it also contributes greatly to ensuring national energy security," Mr. Hai emphasized. Secretary Ngo Dong Hai said that the Government's policy is to build Thai Binh into a national thermal power center, focusing on new investment in projects using clean energy and having a roadmap to convert existing coal-fired projects to use hydrogen or methanol energy. The 2 billion USD LNG power project that Thai Binh has just cooperated with Japan has been initially licensed for 1,500 MW, but the locality will speed up the completion progress, put the project into operation soon, and at the same time advise the Government to continue expanding the capacity to 3,000-4,500 MW. According to Mr. Hai, Thai Binh's aspiration is to become a clean energy production base, reduce emissions and move towards zero carbon. After being included in the Power Plan VIII, Thai Binh was assigned by the Prime Minister to have a direction for developing new offshore spaces. The province has developed a planning scheme to submit to the Prime Minister for approval. The Provincial Party Secretary expects that the combination of LNG and wind power projects... when licensed for investment policy, will ensure the supply of green energy, clean energy, towards reducing net emissions to "0"... With a strong orientation to attract foreign investment, Thai Binh has made a very elaborate preparation process to "clear the nest to welcome the eagle", by accelerating the completion of infrastructure, improving the investment environment, and enhancing the capacity of agencies in the government system. On the other hand, the province is also determined to accelerate the progress of site clearance and construction of industrial park infrastructure. "Thai Binh has many flexible ways to promote investment attraction, boldly approaching foreign partners, especially countries with leading advanced technology such as Japan, Korea, and even some countries in Europe," said Mr. Hai. In the past 3 years, Thai Binh's investment attraction has made a strong breakthrough. In 2023 alone, Thai Binh's foreign investment attraction exceeded the 3 billion USD mark. This result is thanks to the long preparation process from the stage of proposing to include in the planning to approving and considering investors, or advising on perfecting legal regulations, especially related planning. Mr. Hai cited the first industrial park in Thai Binh, Lien Ha Thai, which in just 2 years had cleared 600 hectares of land, basically completed the infrastructure, and attracted investment of more than 440 million USD. The Provincial Party Secretary called this process "very fast". Sharing the "secret", Secretary Ngo Dong Hai said that at that time, the province determined the top requirement was to immediately overcome weaknesses, points that were still inferior to other provinces in terms of infrastructure and land. Although clearing land in the locality was a very difficult task because of "crowded land", according to Mr. Hai, with many flexible, creative, and drastic measures, Thai Binh created a "miracle" in this challenging task. Besides, Thai Binh considered itself a late-developing locality, with many years of economic difficulties, without many breakthroughs, so the investment environment, administrative procedures, and staff capacity were also inferior to other provinces. Therefore, provincial leaders are very focused on improving, promoting and innovating these things to create fundamental and outstanding changes. Also at the Vietnam - Japan Economic Forum, Can Tho City, Bac Giang Province and AeonMall Vietnam Co., Ltd. and partners signed an agreement on cooperation in researching and investing in Aeon Mall Trade Centers in Can Tho and Bac Giang, with each center valued at about 250 million USD. Sharing with Dan Tri reporter, Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee Tran Viet Truong commented that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working trip to Japan created a strong driving force for strengthening cooperation between the two countries in the fields of economy, trade, investment and labor. The signing of the cooperation agreement with AeonMall, according to Mr. Truong, is extremely important. Can Tho City has an area of over 1,400km2 with a population of nearly 1.3 million people, located in the center of the Mekong Delta. Meanwhile, AeonMall Group is one of the largest retail groups in Asia, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The group was founded in 1989 and currently has more than 200 shopping centers in 13 countries and territories. In Vietnam, AeonMall began operating in 2014 with AeonMall Long Bien Center. To date, the group has opened 5 more facilities in Hanoi (1), Ho Chi Minh City (2), Binh Duong (1), Hai Phong (1). The Chairman of Can Tho said that when AeonMall invested in the locality, it also had positive impacts. First of all, it promotes socio-economic development by creating more jobs, attracting investment, developing trade, services, and tourism. This investment also helps improve the quality of life of the people by providing them with a modern, convenient shopping, entertainment, and recreation space, meeting the increasing needs of the people. In general, Mr. Truong said that Japanese enterprises' investment in Can Tho contributes to improving the city's position on the economic map of the Asia-Pacific region. In terms of foreign direct investment, Japan ranks first among 22 countries and territories with FDI capital in Can Tho with 8 projects, total registered investment capital of about 1.35 billion USD, investment activities in the fields of manufacturing, information technology, and services. Prioritizing the promotion of Vietnam - Japan local cooperation is one of the purposes of this working trip to Japan, according to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. During the series of activities in the land of the rising sun, the head of the Vietnamese Government spent time meeting the Governors of 7 Japanese provinces, to discuss the direction of this cooperation. Besides cooperation between localities, cooperation between enterprises of the two countries is also strongly promoted with the organization of forums, economic seminars and meetings with many leaders of leading Japanese corporations. Among the many agreements signed by businesses of the two countries, Vietnam's Kaopiz Software Co., Ltd. and representatives of Hammock Group also signed a cooperation agreement on research, development and application of AI technology, promoting the digital transformation process, opening up new investment and cooperation opportunities in research, development and integration of new technologies in artificial intelligence, image recognition and handwriting recognition. Mr. Trinh Cong Huan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kaopiz Software Co., Ltd., shared his joy when the Government and leaders of ministries and sectors of Vietnam and Japan created conditions for the unit to have the opportunity to exchange, cooperate and invest with Japanese businesses. According to Mr. Huan, the digital transformation project applying AI/IoT technology to production planning contributes to improving the management and operation efficiency of a large Japanese automobile manufacturing plant in Central Vietnam, creating the ability to double the assembly capacity after only 3 years. "The combination of Japan's technological strengths and advanced corporate governance capabilities with a team of young, dynamic, highly qualified engineers in Vietnam's expanding business environment creates enormous cooperation opportunities," according to Mr. Huan. A special highlight of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working trip to the land of cherry blossoms this time is that Vietnam, for the first time, organized a national labor cooperation forum abroad - where there are about 520,000 Vietnamese people living, studying and working. This forum was also held on a very special occasion to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan and 30 years of cooperation in labor, employment, social security and vocational training between the two countries. The event is to summarize the past 30 years, and more importantly, focus on adjusting policies to help increase the rights of workers. Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung assessed that in recent times, cooperation in the social and labor fields between Vietnam and Japan has been very vibrant, with clear evidence being that the Vietnamese labor force in Japan currently has about 350,000 people - leading among countries with workers in Japan. Accompanying Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to many activities during his working trip to Japan, Minister Dao Ngoc Dung said that Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio as well as representatives of large Japanese corporations highly appreciated Vietnamese workers for their diligence, hard work and creativity. The demand is very high, the potential is huge, this is the assessment made by the head of the labor - invalids and social affairs sector when talking about Vietnam - Japan labor cooperation. Minister Dung said that in the coming time, the two countries will continue to discuss the direction of reducing taxes, visa procedures and moving towards visa exemption for Vietnamese citizens. In addition, Vietnam and Japan also agreed to focus on training and fostering high-quality human resources, not only in the short term but also in the long term for both countries. The Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, together with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Social Affairs of Japan, has a joint signing program, focusing on four groups of labor force, according to Minister Dao Ngoc Dung. The first is to create maximum conditions for localities of Vietnam and Japan to unify labor cooperation. The second is to increase the number of skilled trainees. The third is to train practical engineers, focusing on specific forces. "Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh agreed that in early 2024, a specific skills test will be held in Vietnam, creating conditions for those who have studied and worked in Japan to return and continue their work," said Minister Dung. Fourthly, the Minister emphasized the orientation of focusing on supporting young people from ethnic minority areas who have the opportunity to go to Japan with a 100% free program. During his talks with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumia, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh agreed to further deepen cooperation in human resource training, especially strategic-level managers. Mr. Kishida affirmed that Vietnam's human resources, including high-quality human resources and skilled interns, are indispensable for Japan's socio-economic development. He was also pleased that the two sides will organize an examination to accept specific skilled interns in Vietnam. When meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, former Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide also highly appreciated the increasing number of Vietnamese human resources and their important role in the country's socio-economic development. During the meeting with the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan, the Prime Minister did not forget to mention the issue of labor cooperation with the proposal to exempt taxes for Vietnamese workers and simplify and eventually exempt visas for Vietnamese citizens. Appreciating the diligence and dynamism of workers, the advantages of Vietnam's population and human resources, House of Representatives Speaker Nukaga Fukushiro pledged to support policies to improve living conditions for Vietnamese people in Japan and improve income in the context of the devaluation of the yen. He also supported the simplification of procedures and eventually exempting visas for Vietnamese citizens entering Japan. On the Vietnamese side, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that in labor cooperation with Japan, Vietnam needs to have a practical direction, such as recruiting and sending workers with qualifications and skills; having a desire to learn, perseverance, and striving to catch up with the development of the times in new fields such as semiconductors and information technology.
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