Can Tho hosts events to attract Japanese investors

Two important events will be held in the southern city of Can Tho, this month and next month, with the aim of luring more investment from Japan.

This was announced by Trương Quang Hoai Nam, vice chairman of the Can Tho City’s People’s Committee, at a press conference on Tuesday.

Accordingly, the committee will cooperate with the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (VCCI) Can Tho branch to organise the Viet Nam-Japan Trade and Cultural Exchange Programme and the fifth annual conference on investment promotion in the Mekong Delta region.

Nam said that the 5th investment conference in the Mekong Delta and the third Vietnam-Japan Trade and Cultural Exchange Programme have been taking place in Can Tho City in the past few years and have achieved results.

These are just two events in a series of activities aimed at enhancing the understanding, exchanging, promoting of cooperation between Viet Nam and Japan, and attracting investment in trade and tourism from Japanese enterprises in Can Tho City, in particular, and the Cuu Long (Mekong Delta), in general.

Nguyen Phuong Lam, deputy director of VCCI’s Can Tho branch, the third Viet Nam-Japan Trade and Cultural Exchange Programme will take place from November 3-5. This year, the programme has a larger scale, with 120 booths, 30 booths more, as compared to the last time, with an area reserved to introduce Japan’s new technology.

The technology centre will have 10 Japanese companies participating in introducing smart technologies, automation and artificial intelligence.

This year’s programme, for the first time, will see the participation of the Japanese national tourism promotion centre, which will introduce Japan’s tourism sites and promote tourism cooperation between the Mekong Delta region and Japan.

There are about 40 art and cultural performances that will be staged during the programme, with famous Japanese singers participating in the show.

Within the framework of the programme will be a conference calling for investment in agriculture, and another specialising in Asian culture and trade. These two meetings will attract around 40 Japanese businesses.

Relating to the fifth investment conference in the Mekong Delta region to be held on October 25, the theme of this year’s conference is "Attracting Infrastructure Investment - Mekong Tourism Development Platform", with an aim to call for investment in infrastructure development, commercial services, hotels restaurants and entertainment areas to help tourism development.

At this conference, 13 provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta region will introduce and call for investment in 24 tourism development projects, with a total capital of VND7.8 trillion (US$346 million) and 33 real estate projects, with a total capital of VND176 trillion.

In the first six months of 2017, tourism in the Mekong Delta attracted nearly 21 million visitors, increasing 17 per cent, bringing a revenue of VND6.5 trillion, up 22 per cent over the same period last year.

According to Lam, by the end of August 2017, the Mekong Delta region attracted 1,398 FDI projects with a total capital of $19.85 billion. Japan has 159 investment projects with a capital of $2.1 billion, focusing mainly on manufacturing, processing, coal, science and technology and waste water treatment.

Source VNA