Participants in a group photo (Photo: VNA)Tokyo (VNA) – Vietnam’s Ministerof Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh joined policymakers, researchers andrepresentatives of energy companies from 26 countries at the LNGProducer-Consumer Conference 2019 in Tokyo on September 26.
In opening the conference, Japanese Minister ofEconomy, Trade and Industry Isshu Sugawara stressed the need to enhancecooperation between liquefied natural gas (LNG) producing and consumingcountries.
He mentioned initiatives of Japan to expand anddevelop the LNG market, focusing on financial support, capacity building, andmarket development.
He reiterated Japan’s commitment to investing anadditional 10 billion USD from public and private sectors to promote LNG demandand assist with the connection of new LNG supply sources with the increasingdemand in Asia.
Addressing the conference, Minister Tran TuanAnh said developing LNG is an inevitable trend for Vietnam to diversify fuel sourcesfor electricity generation, contributing to ensuring national energy security.
He said Vietnam’s energy exploitation is mainlybased on traditional natural sources such as hydropower, coal, oil and gas.However, hydroelectricity resources have almost been fully exploited.Therefore, the Vietnamese Government has mapped out policies to increase theuse of clean and renewable energy for economic development, especially forpower generation.
The minister added that in the nationaldevelopment plan of gas industry through 2025 with orientations to 2035,Vietnam needs to import LNG from 2022, and the demand for LNG will increase toabout 5 million tonnes by 2025, 10 million tonnes by 2030, and 15 milliontonnes by 2035.
To realise these goals, Vietnam is developing asystem of LNG import terminals and relevant facilities. Moreover, Vietnam hasbeen building and promulgating a legal framework to develop the LNG sector.
At the conference, delegates talked about therole of LNG in realising global targets on climate change, and solutions toaccessing energy, developing LNG demand in new emerging economies, and ensuringenvironmental protection and energy security.
During the working visit to Japan, Minister Anhmet with Minister Sugawara and Secretary-General of the Liberal DemocraticParty (LDP) for the House of Councilors Hiroshige Seko.
At the meeting with Minister Sugawara, Anh saidthe Vietnamese Government and Ministry of Industry and Trade are particularlyinterested in developing LNG-fuelled power generation and will createfavourable conditions for Japanese businesses to study and implement LNGinvestment projects in Vietnam.
He proposed Japan continue helping Vietnam todevelop gas-fuelled power projects inthe future, build regulations and policies to develop ports receiving andimporting LNG, and develop human resources in the field.
In response, Sugawara said Japan will increasebudgets to support human resources training in LNG business for countries,including Vietnam.
Regarding international economic integration,the two ministers underlined the need to further step up the regionalmultilateral trade negotiation framework such as the Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP), and strengthen bilateral coordination so as to concludethe RCEP negotiations at the RCEP ministerial meeting in Vietnam’s central cityof Da Nang this month and move towards the signing of this deal in Vietnam in2020.
Minister Anh hailed the leading role of Japan inthe negotiation process of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the RCEP.
He hoped Japan will continue promoting its rolenot only in the RCEP negotiations but also in supporting Vietnam to implementeffectively the deal./.
VNA
