During the visit to Japan of Da Nang City’s delegation led by Mr. Ho Ky Minh, Vice Chairman of Danang People's Committee from 22 to 25 of May, 2017, various activities promoting investment and tourism environment and approaching investors have taken place in three cities: Tokyo, Saitama and Sapporo.
On May 22, the delegation, in collaboration with Saitama New Business Conference (NBC), held the "Da Nang Investment Promotion Seminar" attracting the participation of more than 70 Japanese investors. Speaking at the seminar, Mr. Watanabe Mitsuru – Director of the Saitama Department of Economy-Labor, stressed that Vietnam in general and Da Nang in particular was a strategic partner with Saitama province, which has been demonstrated by the fact that the Provincial Governor of Saitama had visited Vietnam four times and facilitated the establishment of Saitama Desk in Hanoi to support businesses from the province investing in Vietnam. He expects this seminar will set the foundation for building cooperative economic and investment relations between Saitama and Da Nang in the near future. Vice Chairman of Da Nang People's Committee, Mr. Ho Ky Minh, affirmed that Japan was a strategic investor for Da Nang and called for enterprises in Saitama to pay attention to investment opportunities in manufacturing industry, high-quality services in Da Nang. After a presentation of competitive advantages in Da Nang City given by the leader of Danang Investment Promotion Agency, Mr. Hiranuma Daijiro – President of Saitama NBC and Ms. Hirai Yukiko – General Manager of Selfwing Vietnam Co., Ltd. shared the experience of investing in Danang, highlighting the transparency of the investment environment and the support of the city’s government as crucial factors to make investors feel secure when choosing Da Nang as an investment destination.
Vice Chairman of Da Nang People's Committee giving a speech at Da Nang Investment Promotion Seminar in Saitama Prefecture, Japan.
On May 23, the delegation had a dialogue with leaders of Japan-Vietnam Economic Forum (JVEF), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and leaders of Yokohama City to discuss about cooperative effort to call for investment from Japan into Da Nang. To execute the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was signed between Da Nang People's Committee and JVEF on February 16, 2017, the Vice Chairman – Mr. Ho Ky Minh proposed the two parties to jointly urge strategic investors to come to Da Nang Hi-Tech Park and newly-established industrial zones in the city, to assist the city in mobilizing capital for investment projects of constructing strategic municipal infrastructures such as Lien Chieu Port, relocation of the railway station etc., and to jointly coordinate events promoting the investment climate of Da Nang in the framework of the APEC Summit Week 2017 hosted in Da Nang in November. Speaking at the seminar, Mr. Tanaka Yasushi – Director of JICA Southeast Asia and Pacific Region stated that JICA had been implementing many projects in the fields of infrastructural development and environmental improvement using Japanese ODA in Da Nang and would continue to prioritize the implementation of the proposed projects in Da Nang if these projects were included in the list of projects prioritized for ODA disbursement issued by Vietnam Government in upcoming time. Mr. Hashimoto Toru – Director of Yokohama City’s Department of International Cooperation informed that the 5th Da Nang - Yokohama Urban Development Cooperation Forum was being scheduled in June 2017, marking a significant step forward in the relationship between the two cities. In the coming time, Yokohama City will continue to promote cooperation with Da Nang in the fields of environment, urban development and investment promotion.
The delegation worked with the leaders of Japan-Vietnam Economic Forum, JICA and Yokohama City.
On the same day, the delegation worked with LEOC Group in a meeting chaired by Mr. Onodera Hiroshi, Chairman of LEOC Group. Established in 1983, LEOC Group currently has over 5,000 employees working at 33 subsidiaries and 112 branches in Japan. LEOC Group is the largest food catering service provider in Japan, catering for more than 2,000 hospitals, welfare facilities, schools and businesses all over Japan and owning 03 Onodera luxury restaurant chains in Tokyo, Shanghai, New York, Los Angeles, etc. In addition, LEOC has invested in the education sector with a Japanese language school named Dynamic Business College (Tokyo) at a scale of 900 students and an English language school called Intercultural Communication College (Hawaii). In August 2016, LEOC Group started its investment in Vietnam in the field of training and sent employers to Japan by the establishment of PW Academy Vietnam Ltd., Co. At the meeting, after introducing Da Nang business environment, Vice Chairman of Da Nang People's Committee, Mr. Ho Ky Minh invited LEOC Group to come to Da Nang, expanding a high-class restaurant chain to serve the rapid growth of the city's fast-growing tourist population and establishing a branch of PW Academy in Da Nang to meet the demand for Japanese human resources training in Da Nang.
Continuing the working mission, on May 24, the delegation had a courtesy visit with Mr. Machida Takatoshi – Deputy Mayor of Sapporo Province and worked with Sapporo City’s Department of Economic and Tourism on implementing cooperative investment activities in tourism into Da Nang. Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Machida Takatoshi emphasized the similarities between the two cities in terms of area, population and economic development directed towards tourism and services, laying the foundation for promoting the relationship between the two cities. Especially, IT is also considered as a key economic industry in Sapporo with more than 2,000 IT enterprises operating in software production, digital content, call center, BPO, etc.with total production value approaching US$ 4 billion. Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh claimed that Da Nang City was very pleased to welcome 02 business delegations from Sapporo to explore investment opportunities in the field of IT in Da Nang in the past two years. He also hoped that, Da Nang would have the chance to coordinate with businesses in Sapporo in developing trade and tourism sectors, in addition to IT. At the same time, Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh invited businesses in Sapporo to the East-West Economic Corridor Investment, Trade and Tourism Fair (EWEC) in Da Nang scheduled in August 2017.
In the same afternoon, Da Nang People's Committee held "Da Nang Investment Promotion Seminar" at the Hokkaido Economic Center. The seminar attracted the participation of nearly 50 Japanese investors. After the introduction of investment climate in Da Nang, Japanese investors namely Air Inter Company (operating in tourism industry), Global Cybersoft Corporation (IT) and SuzuyoShinwart Corporation (IT) shared their investment experiences in Da Nang. In particular, according to Mr. Hojo Takehi –International Business Development Director of Suzuyo Shinwart Corporation, the corporation has chosen Da Nang to develop IT products as there is a stable and safe investment environment and a young and high-quality IT workforce that can speak Japanese. At the seminar, some investors also expressed their interests in BPO services in the fields of social insurance, software development, investment in hotel and restaurant, etc.
Representative of Air Inter Co., Japan shared the investment experience in tourism in Da Nang
As of May 2017, Da Nang has had 137 FDI projects from Japan with a total investment capital of US$ 460 million. Among these, most of them are manufacturing (with over 75% of total capital invested). However, in recent years, the number of IT and service projects has increased rapidly, mostly small and medium size investors. This is the first time Da Nang City has organized investment - tourism promotion activities in Saitama, Sapporo, and Hokkaido to reach out to investors in these provinces.
Japan Desk - IPA Da Nang
