Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (r) receives CEO and President of Mitsubishi Corporation Takehiko Kakiuchi in Hà Nội yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo VGP

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has urged Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation to expand investment in infrastructure, airport transport, seaports and energy, especially renewable energy, in Việt Nam. 

The leader made the suggestion at a reception for CEO and President of Mitsubishi Corporation Takehiko Kakiuchi in Hà Nội yesterday, during which he stressed the Việt Nam-Japan extensive strategy partnership has developed strongly, comprehensively and practically across fields, with high mutual political trust.

Japan was a leading economic partner, the largest official development assistance (ODA) supplier, the fourth biggest trade partner and No. 1 investor of Việt Nam in 2017, he said.  

The PM affirmed that Việt Nam attached great importance to economic co-operation with Japan, noting Japanese investors’ prestige in Việt Nam as well as their contributions to the country’s socio-economic development. 

However, he said, Japan’s foreign direct investment (FDI) in Việt Nam made up only 3 per cent of its total FDI in Asia, and lower than its investment in a number of Southeast Asian nations. 

The Vietnamese Government had completed institutions and mechanisms to create more favourable conditions for foreign investors, including those from Japan, the PM emphasised. 

Applauding investment and business activities of Mitsubishi in Việt Nam, he suggested the corporation heed manufacturing, automobile and food processing industries in the country. 

He used the occasion to call on Vietnamese and Japanese businesses to increase exchange and co-operation in order to utilise opportunities generated by the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to which both Việt Nam and Japan are members. 

In reply, Takehiko Kakiuchi applauded PM Phúc’s suggestions, saying they match his corporation’s investment strategy in Vietnam in the time to come.  

He said the great cooperation achievements between Việt Nam and Japan had offered more opportunities for Japanese firms, including Mitsubishi, to intensify exchange, and expand co-operation and investment in Việt Nam.  

He also called on PM Phúc and competent Vietnamese agencies to continue their support and create the best possible conditions for the corporation to invest and operate in the country. — VNS