During their ongoing working visit to Japan, a delegation of Da Nang’s leaders, led by the municipal People's Committee Chairman Mr Huynh Duc Tho, were warmly received on Tuesday by representatives from the Japan Business Federation (KEIDANREN). The Japanese hosts were Mr Takahashi Kyohei and Mr Nakamura Kuniharu, currently co-chairmen of the Japan-Viet Nam Economic Committee of KEIDANREN, along with representatives from about 20 of its member companies.

KEIDANREN is a comprehensive economic organisation comprising of 1,329 Japanese member companies, 109 nationwide industrial associations, and 47 regional economic organisations.

Chairman Tho (middle) and the co-chairmen of the Japan-Viet Nam Economic Committee

The representatives from KEIDANREN highlighted Da Nang’s vital role in accelerating Viet Nam’s progress, especially the city’s strategic geographical position in creating a link between the countries along the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). 

The Japanese hosts also thanked the Da Nang authorities for facilitating some member businesses from KEIDANREN to successfully survey the city’s investment environment earlier this month.  They also remarked that this Japanese organisation is becoming actively involved in promoting cooperative ties between Viet Nam and Japan in terms of industrialisation, support industries, human resource development and other aspects.

In reply, Chairman Tho remarked that Japanese investors are his city’s strategic and long-term partners, but investment from Japan into Da Nang is still relatively modest.  He said he hoped that his locality and the Japanese organisation would together discuss effective ways to attract more Japanese investment inflows into Da Nang in the near future.  He also revealed that his city’s priority aspects now include hi-tech, information technology, support industries, health, education and tourism.

Also at the event, representatives from Fuji Electric Co Ltd, a Japanese electrical equipment company, said that their company is willing to invest into projects to ensure power supplies to the city’s Hi-tech Industrial Park.  Sapporo International Inc also showed its interest in supplying its beer products to the Da Nang market, whilst the Kajima Corporation wanted to cooperate with the city to construct the Hoa Lien Water Supply Plant in Hoa Vang District.

On the same day, the visiting guests had a working session with representatives from the Japan Finance Corporation (JFC), a public corporation wholly owned by the Japanese government which provides financial services in Japan and other countries worldwide.  The intention was to introduce the city’s business environment to the small- and medium-sized Japanese enterprises which usually access loans from JFC.