Indirect investment from Japan into Viet Nam remain relatively modest compared to the potential of Japan and the ability to absorb investment capital sources of Vietnamese market, finance minister Dinh Tien Dung said.

Dung made the statement on Monday at a conference in Tokyo co-hosted by the Viet Nam’s Ministry of Finance and Daiwa Corporation of Japan to promote financial investment in Viet Nam. Around 200 Japanese firms attended the event.

There remains a huge room for bilateral cooperation in the financial market, Dung said, adding that Viet Nam’s economy has recorded an annual average growth rate of 6 per cent over the past three decades.

The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) has expanded by an estimated 5.73 per cent in the first half of 2017, while its Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), announced by the Nikkei, has peaked in the past 22 months and is now the highest in the ASEAN, the minister said.

Dung told participants that the Vietnamese Government has identified human resources development, improvement of market economy institutions, and infrastructure development as three breakthrough areas, so the country’s demand for capital is huge, especially for investment sources accompanied with expertise and development experience.

Speaking about the equitisation of State-owned enterprises (SOEs), Dung said 44 SOEs have been equitised in 2017, and the figure will touch 64 in 2018. The Vietnamese Government has also made a debut in the derivatives market, with the VN30 Index futures contract set for launch.

Dung expressed hope that financial corporations in Japan will invest indirectly in Viet Nam, become strategic investors, and bring capital and technologies into the country.

In an interview with Vietnam News Agency’s (VNA) reporters in Tokyo, Keiko Tashiro, a member of Board of Directors of Daiwa Securities Group, said Daiwa would continue investing in Saigon Securities Incorporation (SSI) and expects more support.

Later in the day, Dung met Japanese finance vice-minister Imaeda Soichiro and lauded Japan’s role in helping develop infrastructure in Viet Nam through official development assistance (ODA) capital.

The two ministers also discussed measures to enhance mutual support within the APEC and ASEAN+3 financial cooperation frameworks. — VNS