Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc assured more than 30 corporate executives in Kansai region of Japan during a dialogue on June 7 that Vietnamese localities offer all possible support to them to do business. 

Speaking highly of Kansai firms’ strength in equipment manufacturing, mechanical engineering, support industry and trade, the PM wished that they would soon launch projects in Vietnam. 

He suggested developing a particular scheme for Kansai region based on survey results, adding that Kansai businesses should pour capital into key infrastructure projects, particularly those in public-private partnership model, environment and water resources treatment, renewable energy, finance-banking, and especially equitisation of State-owned enterprises. 

Vietnam is committed to creating the most favourable conditions for Japanese firms to do long-term business in the country, he stated. 

Participating Kansai firms operate in electronics, trade, iron and steel, food processing, banking, construction, media, health care and industrial parks. 

They asked the Vietnamese government to upgrade infrastructure, further develop support industry, and minimise foreign exchange risks for investors due to materials import. 

As Japan’s major economic and industrial region, Kansai is home to 10 prefectures including three big cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe with strength in manufacturing industry. The Kansai economic region is worth nearly 931 billion USD, focusing on garment, chemicals and electronic spare parts. 

Meeting Osaka prefecture authorities the same day, PM Phuc said Vietnam always treasures the expansion of cooperation with Japanese localities, including Osaka prefecture and other localities in Kansai region, considering it an important factor to push forward Vietnam-Japan extensive and practical ties. 

Lauding the results of cooperation between Osaka prefecture and Vietnamese localities, especially Ho Chi Minh City and Hoi An city, he thanked Osaka authorities and people for actively helping the Vietnamese Consulate General well perform its role as a bridge linking Kansai region and Vietnam, as well as assisting the Vietnamese nationals living here. 

On the occasion, he asked Governor of Osaka prefecture Ichiro Matsui and Kansai authorities to encourage local enterprises, especially small- and medium-size ones, to invest in Vietnam in the fields of high technology and support industry, as well as share experience with Vietnam in workforce training and technological transfer in agriculture, and enhance labour coordination, including welcoming more Vietnamese technical apprentices to the region. 

He wished that Osaka would encourage other Kansai localities to establish cooperative ties and reinforce mutually-beneficial collaboration with Vietnam. 

Governor Matsui, for his part, vowed to continue support for the Vietnamese Consulate General in Osaka and the Vietnamese nationals living in the prefecture, thus contributing to intensifying exchanges and mutual understanding between the two countries’ people. 

In a meeting with leaders of the Kansai regional chapter of the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association, the Vietnamese leader hailed the chapter for boosting bilateral ties over the past two decades. 

President of the chapter Teiichi Nishimura informed the PM that the chapter has connected Japanese firms with Vietnamese partners, as well as held cultural and art exchanges over the past years. 

He vowed to do his best to strengthen exchanges and mutual understanding between the two countries’ people, including those from Kansai and Vietnamese localities.

PM attends debut ceremony for flights to and from Osaka

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc attended a ceremony in the Japanese city of Osaka on June 7 to announce direct flights to and from Osaka by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and low-cost Jetstar Pacific. 

At the event, the PM asked the two carriers to effectively run new flight services, ensuring their safety and efficiency to contribute to trade, tourism and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. 

Vietnam Airlines will offer flights connecting Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Osaka on Boeing 787 and Airbus A350-900XWB up to four-star standard. 

Meanwhile, Jetstar Pacific will operate flights linking Hanoi and the central city of Da Nang with Osaka, becoming Vietnam’s first low-cost airline to offer direct service to Japan. 

As scheduled, its flights will be inaugurated this September with four round trips per week on the 180-seater Airbus A320. One-way tickets will be sold in mid-June for from 68.18 USD, exclusive of taxes and fees. 

Vietnam Airlines is the largest carrier operating direct flights to Japan with 70 trips per week on average on 10 regular routes linking Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang with Haneda, Narita, Kansai (Osaka), Centrair (Nagoya) and Fukuoka airports. 

Since the first flight in 1994, Vietnam Airlines has served 10 million passengers to and fro the two countries, accounting for 65 percent of the market share. 

Statistics in 2016 showed that the number of passengers travelling between the two countries topped 1.1 million. The figure is estimated at 1.3 million this year, up 17 percent.

VNA