Japanese firms sound out business prospects in Vietnam

The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) has organized a networking event for Vietnamese and Japanese businesses in Hanoi City in order to facilitate their cooperation, the Vietnam News Agency reports.

The event was part of a JETRO project for nurturing new industries in Japan and ASEAN countries, including Vietnam, to promote cooperation in some fields such as information technology, digitalization, and Internet of Things.

More than 100 representatives of Vietnamese and Japanese enterprises took part in the event in Hanoi City last Friday.

Hironobu Kitagawa, chief representative of JETRO in Hanoi, said Vietnam is the fifth country after Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia where the organization has held networking events as part of the project.

The event is aimed at creating an opportunity for companies of the two countries to cooperate with each other, he said.

Japanese startups develop various business ideas, and have the ability to assess market demand in Japan and other nations while Vietnamese counterparts have technical skills and creativity. Therefore, they will have good chances of becoming partners, he added.

Le Thai Phong, a lecturer specializing in business administration at the Foreign Trade University, said various organizations from ministries, State agencies, universities, and embassies offer their support for startups. However, a representative agency for the Vietnamese startup ecosystem has yet to exist.

Other participants also voiced their concerns over some disadvantages to the local startup ecosystem compared with its equivalents in other countries.

For example, they said, local startups spend at least US$50 and seven days registering to obtain business licenses. Meanwhile, those in other countries take around 30 minutes and pay no charge.

Besides, State and private companies in the same business environment receive different treatments for administrative procedures.

Phong stressed the Government has offered policy incentives for startups, but local authorities have still made life difficult for these companies.

Source: The Saigon Times