Hiroshi Watanabe, President of Japan Institute for International Monetary Affairs, and special advisor of BTMU said during a recent meeting with Vietnamese Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung on March 8.
A man walks past a signboard of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ outside its headquarters
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Currently, BTMU is the strategic investor of the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank). The two bank signed their strategic investment and comprehensive cooperation contracts in 2012, under which VietinBank sold 20 percent of its stocks to BTMU, a transaction worth nearly VND15,500 billion (US$743 million). It was the largest mergers and acquisitions in the history of the Vietnamese banking industry at that time.
Upon becoming a strategic shareholder, BTMU has coordinated with VietinBank to increase management capacity, control risk, train human resources, modernize technological infrastructure, and advance the bank’s competitive standing as it integrates into the global economy.
At the meeting, Hiroshi Watanabe also said that the relationship between the finance ministries of Vietnam and Japan has been constantly developing. He highly appreciated the financial management policies of the Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance, especially in reforms of loans.
Minister Dung expressed his pleasure that the Vietnam-Japan relations have been constantly developing in recent years. Japan has become a comprehensive strategic partner of Vietnam in all fields, especially in trade and investment, he said, expecting that the investment and trade cooperation relations of the two countries will continue to further grow in the coming time.
The Minister said that the Vietnam government will continue to step up institutional reforms in order to call for more investment and create favorable conditions for foreign investors to enter Vietnam.
According to a recent survey of the Japan External Trade Organization, more and more Japanese firms want to expand investment in Vietnam.
Under the survey, nearly 70 percent of Japanese enterprises in Vietnam plan to expand their business and continue to view the country as an important investment destination in future, an increase of 3 percent compared to 2016.
The rate is relatively high compared to other countries, indicating the attractiveness of the Vietnamese market.
The survey also showed that 65.1 percent of Japanese enterprises operating in Vietnam recorded a profit in 2017, up 2.3 percentage points from the previous year.
Japanese enterprises mentioned key factors for their developments in Vietnam including the advantages of the investment environment, political and social stability, and the affordable cost of labor, and others.
Japanese businesses appreciate the political and social stability in Vietnam and consider it the greatest advantage in its investment environment.
However, the language barriers, incomplete legal system, complicated tax procedures, and limited sources of materials and components remain key obstacles for Japanese enterprises operating in Vietnam, the survey says.
Japanese enterprises invested a record high of more than US$9.11 billion in Vietnam in 2017, in areas mostly similar to 2016.
