On 25th March 2021, Chief Representative of JETRO in Viet Nam, Mr. Takeo Nakajima gave the lecture “Invest Japan, Invest Vietnam – the Importance of FDI” to VJU students. The lecture focuses on two major contents: strength and attractiveness of Japan and Viet Nam in welcome the flow of FDI in their development.

According to the lecture, promoting inward FDI is a drive to grow a country’s economy and innovation. For a company, outward FDI is vital to explore global market and create a cost-effective, resilient manufacturing network. Japan is not only a country that has a large proportion of FDI in Asian countries but also attracts inward FDI from many countries in the world. Statistics from the Japanese Ministry of Finance show that direct investment into Japan has increased in recent years, particularly 7% from 2000 to 2019 (up to 33.9 billion yen). Viet Nam is one of those partners with a focus in IT field. By 2020, there are 17 Vietnamese enterprises having offices in Japan, of which FPT software has representative offices in 10 cities and localities in the country. Despite the severe impact of COVID-19, foreign companies keep positive outlook. Japan’s strength, according to the speaker, are market size and growth potential; sophisticated consumers, innovation opportunities. Japan business culture is more diversified and multinational as it receives FDI. Japan needs more FDI to mitigate decreasing population and spur innovation.

By Viet Nam’s side, inward direct investment has risen in recent years and had a decline during the Covid period. Among countries investing directly in Viet Nam, Japan ranked the second at around 16%, aheaded by Korea (18%) and followed by Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Japan-Viet Nam relations deepen further even under the Covid-19. Viet Nam is a promising country to strengthen supply chains for global companies. Viet Nam has no severe issues with overall strengths as an exporting base and growing market. Viet Nam will be a significant player in the 2030s and beyond, thanks to FDI and domestic business growth, Viet Nam becomes an equal economic partners for Japan in the future. Japanese enterprises plan to expand their business here.

Why is Viet Nam one of the most attractive destinations for Japan? It is said that, Vietnamese people, being energetic, fast learning, hardworking are first attractive to Japanese businesses. In addition, key factors actually are competitive cost, Japanese language ability, Geographical proximity; more accessible communication, Growing Vietnamese people in Japan – closer/frequent access to clients and Many Japanese enterprises have a business in Vietnam already.

Open questions for discussion and further thinking are What are the benefits of Vietnamese enterprises when FDI flows into Vietnam? What are the concerns for Vietnam's domestic firms in the face of FDI inflows?

For the next activity in the lecture series, students will come to Bac Ninh province in a fieldtrip.