The seminar is one of the activities being held in 2009 Mekong-Japan Exchange Year.

 In his speech, Keiichi Ono, the Head of the East Asia Section of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs praised the achievements in 2009, including the successful organisation of the second Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministerial Meeting in Siem Reap, Cambodia and the first Mekong-Japan Summit in Tokyo. He also called on Japanese businesses to increase their investment in the Mekong region.

Dinh Lam Tan, the Deputy Head of the National Economy Department under the Ministry of Investment and Planning highlighted the advantages of Vietnam’s investment environment such as the countries’ socio-political stability, high economic growth rate, abundant and low-cost workforce. In addition, the Vietnamese Government always pays attention to improving the investment environment by taking measures to encourage foreign investors, enhance international economic integration and sign bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. This is the best time for Japanese businesses to invest in Vietnam, especially as both countries have established a strategic partnership and the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement came into force in October this year, added Tan.

Participants also discussed the development of the East-West corridor and the pros and cons of investing in various economic sectors in the Mekong Delta region.