Chief Representative of the JICA Vietnam Office Shimizu Akira (Photo: VNA)In its latest update on Vietnam’s economicperformance, the World Bank projected the country’s GDP growth rate atabout 4.8 percent in 2021, two percentage points lower than its previousprediction in December 2020.
Replying to the Vietnam News Agency’s questions,Shimizu Akira, Chief Representative of the JICA Vietnam Office, said it is unfortunate that the disruption of supply chains has occured while Vietnam hasgained so much attention and beenconsidered one of the most desirable countries for the global diversificationof supply chains since the beginning of the pandemic.
There are many Japanese suppliersof Japanese assemblers or manufacturers being affected. Although the impacted production items are limited only to those Japanese suppliers, since some ofwhich are global companies, such structure of supply chain have given a significant impact on the global supply chain, including Vietnam.
To the companies which are included in this supply chain, this issue ishighly critical, and they have reportedly had to cut down the production asplanned on global basis, Shimizu pointed out.
The pandemic has given insights to the importance of the relavant support whichhas been carriedout, he said, noting that firstly, it is important for Vietnam to strengthen its ownenterprises so that they enhance their competitiveness by being able to producehigh-quality parts, goods, and so forth by themselves.
For this purpose, JICA is working closely with the Agency for Enterprise Development under the Ministry of Planning and Investment to enhance thecapacity of local enterprises to be able to participate in the supplychain.
Secondly, the disruption of corss-border movement shows how important it is for Vietnam to have an enough number of qualified manager/engineers/workers withproper knoweldge and skill without depending on external experts so that theycan manage its business without any interruption.
For this purpose, JICA cotinues its assistance in developing industrialhuman resources through trainings on Japanese business models and strengtheningvocational schools, the Chief Representativesaid, expressing the belief that such efforts will help create a resilient supply chain in the Vietnamese industry.
Shimizu also held that the VietnameseGovernment should accelerate the disbursement of public investment, which isviewed as one of important tools to not only serve economic development butalso cope with post-pandemic difficulties in the country./.
VNA
