He made the statement at the Vietnam-Japan Economic Forum 2015 held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in Hanoi on October 14.
The forum attracted the participation of more than 300 representatives from management agencies, organisations and enterprises from both countries.
He also appreciated opinions raised by representatives from the Japanese government and enterprises at the forum in order to help Vietnam promote its economy and strengthen economic co-operation with Japan for the mutual benefit of the two sides.
Deputy PM Hai noted that the Vietnamese government has issued a series of resolutions on improving investment, the business environment and the competitiveness of the economy in a bid to reach standards set by the ASEAN 6 and ASEAN 4.
The signing of free trade agreements (FTA) with blocs and countries throughout the world, particularly the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreements (TPP) in which Vietnam and Japan are signatories, will open up huge opportunities for boosting the Vietnam-Japan co-operation in supporting industry and agriculture among others, he stated.
He also added that the Vietnamese government wished the Japanese business community would to continue to expand investment in Vietnam with the focus on areas including electronics, agricultural machinery, agriculture and fishery processing, ship building, environment, energy saving, and the production of automobiles and spare parts among others.
According to JETRO, Japanese enterprises investing in Vietnam have a low rate of domestic content at around 33%, while the rates were 55% in Thailand and 43% in Indonesia. Thus, it is necessary for Vietnam to develop supporting industry and small-and medium-sized enterprises to supply spare parts for foreign investors.
JETRO will connect buyers and sellers of spare parts of both countries and introduce Vietnam to Japan's latest products and technology in the area of agriculture for further economic co-operation.
Japan is now one of the leading trade partners of Vietnam with over US$37.7 billion in registered capital in more than 2,660 projects and 1,500 enterprises operating in all key economic sectors of Vietnam.
The two countries posted a two-way trade revenue of US$27.6 billion in 2014 and US$19 billion in the first eight months of this year.
