HÀ NỘI —  The Japan Branding Consumer Product Outlet Fair opened yesterday at the Hà Nội International Exhibition Centre (IEC).

The four-day fair is supported by the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro), the Việt Nam Business Association in Japan, the Việt Nam–Japan International JSC in co-operation with Vinexad.

Around 100 booths of Japanese companies and agents, Vietnamese manufacturers of Japan-brand products and Vietnamese importers of Japanese products, participated in the fair.

Among the products at the fair are food and beverages, household products, textile and garment, jewelry, health and beauty products, decorative items and souvenirs, and electrical appliances.

One part of the exhibition offers support for Vietnamese importers and Japanese companies seeking trade, investment and co-operation opportunities.

Lê An Hải, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Domestic Market Department, emphasised that trade relations between Việt Nam and Japan were constantly developing.

Japan is Việt Nam’s fourth largest trade partner after the US, China and the EU. “Japan has always been among the top five largest foreign investors in Việt Nam, but it is the investor with the highest quality and with the most added value and job-creating projects for Vietnamese people,” he said.

According to data provided by organisers, bilateral trade turnover between the two countries reached nearly US$27 billion in the first 11 months of last year.

“Honda has become a definition of motorbike in Việt Nam, while Sony is a television icon to Vietnamese. One of every two cars on the roads of Việt Nam are a Japanese brand,” said Hải. “The fair, held in Hà Nội for the first time, is an important event to affirm the tight economic trade between the two countries."

Atsusuke Kawada, Jetro chief representative in Hà Nội, said Việt Nam’s deepening integration in the global economy provides Japanese investors and enterprises with a bigger potential in the Vietnamese market, especially the retail market.

Together with the exhibits and trading activities at the fair, organisers also arranged promotional activities, such as a kimono fashion show, Ikibana flower art show and a selection of traditional Japanese food, in order to promote Japan’s traditional culture in Việt Nam. — VNS