JapaneseMinister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Yoshimasa Hayashi madethe statement at talks with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninhin Tokyo on May 22.
The Minister said Japan willassist Vietnam in developing the value chain of farm produce, buildboats for fishermen and the fishing inspection sector, and exploitingocean tuna.
Deputy PM Ninh said he hopes theJapanese Ministry of Agriculture will help to increase the presence ofVietnamese farm produce and seafood in the Japanese market.
Earlier the same day, Deputy PM Ninh, who is on a Japan working visit,hosted separate receptions for a number of Japanese businessorganisations.
At the meeting with President ofthe Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Tanaka Akihiko , theDeputy PM said he hopes the agency will persuade the Japanese Governmentto maintain official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam, whilecalling on Japanese firms to expand investment in the Southeast Asiancountry, especially agriculture.
He noted severalsuccessful cooperative projects in the field of fishery and agriculturesuch as the cultivation of organic vegetable in the Central Highlandscity of Da Lat and the tuna fishing project in the central region.
For his part, Tanaka Akihiko said JICA will continue to help Vietnamimprove the investment environment to attract more Japanese firms.
While receiving President of Japan-Vietnam Economic Committeeunder the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) Takahashi Kyohei ,Deputy PM Ninh said Vietnam is actively implementing policies tosupport foreign investors, including those from Japan .
He noted that Japan ’s investment in Vietnam has increased three folds against the previous time.
Takahashi Kyohei said Keidanren will continue to enhance economiclinks with Vietnam based on the agreements signed between the two sides.
He added that the Vietnam-Japan joint initiativehas entered the sixth phase, which is expected to improve the respectiveinvestment climate and cooperation between the two countries.
During talks with Vice President of the Japan External TradeOrganisation (JETRO) Satoshi Miyamoto, Deputy PM Ninh asked for JETRO’shelp to develop the support industry and increase the competitiveness ofVietnamese small-and medium-sized enterprises.
The Vietnamese Government will continue to fine-tune its import-exportpolicies to develop domestic market and simultaneously benefit Japanesebusinesses.
Satoshi Miyamoto revealed a JETRO recentsurvey which showed that up to 70 percent of Japanese businesses wantto expand investment in Vietnam .
Theorganisation vows to actively assist Vietnam with developing supportindustry and hopes the Vietnamese Government, ministries and sectorswill create all favourable conditions for Japanese investors, he said.-VNA