Japanese investment in Vietnam has strongly developed in both quality and quantity as investors are applying the most advanced technologies in production, experts have said.

The investment trend will be essential as the 4.0 industrial era continues to developwell in Vietnam, with both domestic and foreign companies increasingly using advanced technologies including Big Data, the cloud, and AI (Artificial Intelligence) in their production.

Because of US-China tradetensions, many Japanese companies want to set upmanufacturing in Vietnam, experts have said. Moreover,the companies also see great potential inthe Vietnamese market with its young population, cheap labour,and preferential policies from the Government. 

Speaking about Japaneseinvestment in 2019, Hirai Shinji, chief representative of JETRO Ho Chi MinhCity (Japan External Trade Organisation), said: “There is now a greaterdiversity of investments, but manufacturing is still by far the largest interms of money invested.”

Japan's Daikin Vietnamfactory, for example, illustrates the trend in which the Japanese are investingmore in highly advanced technology in Vietnam.

Daikin, which has been inoperation since May 2018, is expected to contribute to energy conservationand public health, such as energy-saving air conditioners and air purification,as more people in Vietnam are buying air cleaners, according to Shinji.

Compared to factories of DaikinGlobal, the factory in Vietnam has the mostadvanced technologies as it is the first factory to useAGV, an automatic machine that delivers supply componentsto production lines. In other factories, employees working on production lineshave to manually pick up components.

The facility in Vietnam isalso Daikin's first factory to use IoT (Internet of Things)technology in production systems. Other factories around the world are juststarting to use this technology.

In addition to using sensors,Daikin Vietnam uses many other technologies such as FDI technology (asingle approach to device integration) and cameras from whichthe company can obtain inspection data and production data.

Based on the data in theIoT system, the company's data managers candetermine which additional devices should be installedon production lines and which machines are needed to helpobtain data.

Citing other examples ofincreased Japanese investment in Vietnam, Shinji said: “Sumitomo Corporation isworking on doing the same in Hanoi, with plans to introduce 5G as well asface-recognition systems and blockchain technologies.”  

In addition, Japanesecompany Sharp has announced a plan to invest in Binh Duong provinceto produce air cleaners, displays, and other electronic devices, accordingto Shinji.

And,automaker Toyota has opened a new dealership in An Giang province, basedon the belief that residents in provinces like An Giang can afford thecars. 

According to JETRO, as of Aprillast year, about 2,000 companies had registered with theJapanese Chamber of Commerce. In 2018, the manufacturing sector made up 25percent of Japanese investment, making it the largest sector. 

HCM City hasattracted the largest number of investment projects with 1,247, makingup more than one-third of the total, and Hanoiis second with 1,081. 

But in terms of money invested,Thanh Hoa province has attracted the largest amount, with Nghi Son Refinery(9 billion USD), the largest project in the country. The province is followedby Hanoi, Binh Duong province, Hai Phong, and HCM City.

“I’m sure that the number ofJapanese companies coming to Vietnam will increase, especially across sectorssuch as consulting, IT, retail, and distribution," Shinji said. "Idon’t expect any rapid or big changes from 2018 to 2020. But I think themanufacturing sector is strong, with relatively high levels ofinvestment." 

In 2019, the number ofinvestment projects from Japan was 655, with total value at 2.89billion USD./.VNA