At a recent press conference, Shimizu Akira, Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Vietnam, said that JETRO recently organized a survey on diversification of supply chains with 30 Japanese firms with production bases in foreign countries. Up to half of them wanted to expand and diversify their production in Vietnam.

“Many Japanese enterprises expected to enter Vietnam in their plans to expand factories and diversify the supply chain. The Vietnamese government has active moves to become one of the key countries in the global supply chain. Last month, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc held a dialogue with about 30 Japanese enterprises in Vietnam about investment environment. The Prime Minister expressed his expectation about the participation of Japanese firms in the supply chain in Vietnam,” Shimizu Akira said.

However, JICA's Chief Representative mentioned a common concern of many Japanese firms: the lack of human resources in the supporting industry in Vietnam.

Referring to JICA's recent signing of an ODA loan agreement worth 36,626 billion yen ($347 million) for a project to strengthen capacity to ensure security and safety at sea with Vietnam, Akira said that under this project, the Vietnam Coast Guard will be financially supported to buy six new patrol boats. In the past, Japan provided Vietnam with used vessels through a non-refundable aid program.

According to the Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam, in the field of healthcare, JICA has sent more than 2,000 experts and 140 volunteers to work in Vietnam and helped train about 5,300 Vietnamese. The total amount of JICA funding for loan projects and technical cooperation projects in this field has been 77.4 billion yen.

Since February this year, JICA has provided biological aid to the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology and Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City, and medical equipment to Vietnamese hospitals with a total value of more than 170 million yen.

In the first half of this year, infrastructure projects invested with Japanese ODA loans were implemented on schedule.

In addition, JICA has been supporting Vietnam in many fields such as agriculture, human resource development, economics, state management, response to climate change ... to attract foreign investment to Vietnam and develop the country’s economy.

JICA will continue to support Vietnam in building infrastructure and technical cooperation, contributing to the development of Vietnam, Shimizu Akira said.

Bao Duc

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