On the morning of October 14, Mr. Lê Trung Kiên, Member of the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee and Head of the Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority, chaired a meeting with a delegation from Gunma Prefecture (Japan) and Japanese enterprises led by Mr. Yamamoto Ichita, Governor of Gunma Prefecture.
Mr. Lê Trung Kiên warmly welcomed the delegation, emphasizing that Japan is currently one of Hai Phong's key partners across various fields such as environment, education and training, healthcare, and agriculture. Economically, Japan ranks second in terms of both the number of projects and total investment among 42 countries and territories investing in Hai Phong. The city hosts 151 projects from Japanese investors, with a total investment of USD 5.23 billion, accounting for 20.4% of Hai Phong's total FDI capital. These projects primarily focus on mechanical equipment, boilers, electrical devices, plastics and related products, and rubber. Several major infrastructure projects in Hai Phong also bear the mark of Vietnam-Japan friendship, including the Japanese Industrial Zone in Hai Phong (formerly Nomura Industrial Zone), and key transportation projects such as Kien Bridge, Binh Bridge, the International Gateway Port, and Tan Vu-Lach Huyen Sea-Crossing Bridge.
On this occasion, Mr. Lê Trung Kiên provided additional information on the city’s socio-economic development and revealed plans to establish a new green and eco-friendly economic zone in southern Hai Phong by 2025, aligned with international trends in ESG and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. The city is committed to offering outstanding preferential policies to attract foreign investors, particularly from Japan. He reaffirmed the city's pledge to support investors by resolving challenges promptly, maintaining transparent and open investment incentives, and providing fast administrative procedures.
During the meeting, Mr. Lê Trung Kiên proposed that the Gunma Prefectural Government advocate with the Japanese government and other localities to support Hai Phong in projects related to port development, digital transformation, renewable energy, and climate change adaptation. Hai Phong also seeks to strengthen cooperation with Gunma Prefecture and its enterprises in fields such as automotive manufacturing, transport machinery production, electronics, and high technology. He emphasized expanding collaboration in finance, science and technology, and workforce training.
The city requested that Gunma encourage its organizations and businesses, especially those already operating in Hai Phong, to focus more on workforce development, including collaboration with universities, colleges, and vocational schools in Hai Phong to establish programs for high-quality human resource training and incorporating Japanese language teaching into the curriculum at various levels.
He wished the delegation a successful visit to Vietnam and Hai Phong, expressing hope that this visit would pave the way for new opportunities for investment cooperation between the governments and businesses of the two localities.
Mr. Yamamoto Ichita expressed his gratitude for Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority’s warm welcome. He introduced Gunma Prefecture as part of the Kanto region, one of Japan's leading industrial hubs. Though Gunma ranks 18th out of 47 prefectures in population, with over 1.9 million people (similar to Hai Phong), its industrial production ranks fifth in Japan, excelling in automotive manufacturing, transport machinery production, electronics, and high-tech industries.
Mr. Yamamoto emphasized that the purpose of this visit was to further strengthen investment cooperation between the two countries, study the investment environment in Hai Phong, and explore opportunities for meaningful collaborations. He expressed hope that this visit would yield successful investment cooperation opportunities between the governments and businesses of both localities across various sectors.