Phuc was speaking on Monday at an investment promotion forum held in Tokyo, Japan as part of his official visit to Japan from Sunday to Thursday, which drew the participation of 1,600 firms, including 200 from Viet Nam.

At the event, businesses from both sides signed investment agreements worth US$22 billion.

Phuc expressed hope that there would be a new wave of investment from Japan to Viet Nam.

He vowed efforts to enhance the competitiveness of the Vietnamese economy and hasten institutional reform to give opportunities to all economic sectors.

"We also commit to continuing to complete investment policies to ensure consistency, openness, transparency, predictability and convenience for investors," he emphasised.

Phuc said that there were opportunities to invest in Viet Nam for foreigners, given the country’s political, social and macro-economic stability as well as the Government’s efforts to create a favourable investment environment together with a dynamic economy.

Viet Nam is encouraging mergers and acquisitions combined with the privatisation of State-owned enterprises in areas such as transport, infrastructure, food, agriculture, telecommunications, trade, services, tourism and construction. “This is a huge opportunity for Japanese investors to become strategic partners of Vietnamese firms in sectors with rich growth potential,” Phuc stressed.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc attended the investment promotion conference to Viet Nam in Tokyo on Monday. — Photo VGP

Viet Nam is focusing on improving legal frameworks and facilitating public-private partnerships in infrastructure development with flexible capital contribution ratios and mechanisms, Phuc said at the conference.

Phuc said that Viet Nam is also boosting start-ups and links to the global start-up ecosystem.

“Viet Nam welcomes Japanese investments which encourage technology transfer, enhance brand value, financial capacity and corporate finance as well as promote engagement into the global supply chain,” he added.

“We expect Japanese investment funds and corporations to expand in Viet Nam and pour capital into new projects in prioritised areas like infrastructure development, logistics, aviation services, healthcare, education, science and technology, biology, high-tech agriculture and part supplying industries.”

“I believe that the close relationship between Viet Nam and Japan will be the foundation for the development and prosperity of the two countries,” Phuc stressed.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lauded the Vietnamese Government’s efforts to improve the investment climate for Japanese investors, adding that Japan and Viet Nam work together to support Japanese investors in Viet Nam through improving infrastructure, the investment environment and human resource training.

After the conference, Phuc met with Japanese investors.

Earlier, the Prime Minister attended a roundtable with leading Japanese corporations in high technology, electronics, petrol and oil, finance and banking, trade and retail such as Canon, Panasonic, Nipro Corporation, Taisei Corp, Tokyo Gas, Idemitsu, Taiyo Nippon Sanso, Hitachi Zosen, Aeon, Fast Retail and Mitsubishi UFJ Leasing.

Phuc said that ideas from Japanese firms at the event would help the country devise measures to remove difficulties for firms and policies for economic development.

Phuc also urged Japanese firms to hasten the progress of their projects in Viet Nam.

In the morning, Phuc met with representatives of major Japanese enterprises and funds in Tokyo.

Speaking at the working session, said it was a good time for Japanese enterprises to invest in Viet Nam as the two countries had reached high-level agreements on boosting co-operation.

He said that Japan was the top supplier of official development assistance, the third largest source of tourist arrivals and the fourth largest trade partner of Viet Nam, and bilateral co-operative potential between the two remains huge. — VNS