Support industry has room to grow

Support industries also manufacture competitive and high added value export products.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong made this statement during the opening ceremony of three large-scale support industry expos yesterday in Ha Noi.

The three-day events include the Viet Nam-Japan Support Industry Exhibition in Ha Noi, co-organised by Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) and Trade Promotion Agency; Viet Nam Manufacturing Expo 2015 hosted by Thailand's Reed Tradex; and Industrial Components and Subcontracting Viet Nam 2015, organised by the Ha Noi Promotion Agency.

"In recent years, Viet Nam's support industry has been trying to overcome weaknesses to meet the growing demand of domestic and foreign-invested firms operating in the country," Vuong said.

The deputy minister added that he believed that the three events will be an effective bridge for Vietnamese and international enterprises to meet and then seek long-term business and investment co-operation.

Katsuro Nagai from the Japanese Embassy in Viet Nam, said nearly half of 1,500 Japanese companies which are operating in Viet Nam are involved in the manufacturing sector.

However, the ratio of local products that those Japanese firms procure is only 33 per cent, and most of these products are supplied by Japanese companies in Viet Nam, he said.

"This tells us that business transactions between Vietnamese and Japanese firms are still very limited and there is much room to grow," he said.

According to JETRO executive vice president Soichi Yoshimura, the ratio of local procurement by Japanese manufactures in Viet Nam is lower, compared with 66 per cent in China, 55 per cent in Thailand and 43 per cent in Indonesia.