Vietnamese PM Urges Japanese Investors to Focus on High-Value Sectors

Prime Minister Le Minh Hung stressed the importance of foreign-invested sectors in the Vietnamese economy during a working session with Japanese investors in Da Nang City on Sunday, September 6, 2026. He stated that Vietnam prioritizes attracting high-quality FDI projects with advanced technology, high added value, significant spillover effects, and growing participation of Vietnamese enterprises, in line with the spirit of Politburo's Resolution No. 10-NQ/TW dated June 8, 2026. The Prime Minister urged Japanese enterprises to actively contribute to achieving this goal. Specific suggestions for investment expansion included high-tech agriculture, strategic infrastructure development, urban and high-speed railway development, green transition, digital transformation, science and technology, innovation, the semiconductor industry, and high-quality workforce training. He also encouraged Japanese companies to enhance partnerships with Vietnamese counterparts to help them improve corporate governance capacity and participate deeper into Japanese businesses' supply chains for mutual development. Furthermore, PM Le called for a shift in Vietnam-Japan investment relations from an "investment destination" to a "partnership" centered on co-development, co-enabling, joint research and development, co-innovation, and co-production. Japan has consistently been one of the top three largest foreign investors in Vietnam for many consecutive years, with cumulative investment capital reaching approximately US$80.3 billion as of July 2026. Japan is also Vietnam's largest ODA provider, with total funding nearing JPY3,000 billion. Two-way trade between the two countries reached US$33.7 billion in the first seven months of this year, an increase of 16.8 percent compared to the same period last year. Vietnam's export turnover grew by 16.6 percent to around US$17.6 billion.