Meeting the Prime Minister, Leaders of Japan’s “Big Four” Business Groups Offer to Help Vietnam Achieve a $3.1 Trillion GDP.

This afternoon (August 30) in Hanoi, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a conference to meet with businesses on the theme of “80 years of businesses accompanying the country.” The event was attended by representatives of 60 state-owned groups and corporations, 141 private enterprises, and 50 FDI companies.

At the conference, Mr. Eita Fujikawa, General Director of Sumitomo Corporation Vietnam, shared that since 1990, Sumitomo has been operating in Vietnam and has been a key factor in attracting foreign investment. They have participated in many important projects, such as infrastructure development, power plant construction, and other key industries. From that time on, the group’s business areas have expanded significantly in Vietnam.

In addition, Sumitomo has projects to establish smart cities, create supermarket chains, and develop IT-related services.

“In the future, we hope to contribute to Vietnam’s goal of becoming a developed country by 2045 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. We will also support the continuous improvement of the lives of Vietnamese people, creating green products that are in line with the development trends of the times,” said the leader of the Sumitomo Group.

Moreover, the Sumitomo Group pledged to implement large-scale projects in Vietnam to help the country achieve its goals.

Sumitomo is considered one of the “four great zaibatsu” of Japan, along with Mitsui, Mitsubishi, and Yasuda. These were the large economic groups that dominated Japan before World War II. Sumitomo is one of the two groups that originated in the Edo period, starting as a small shop and later developing into a diverse and influential conglomerate. Today, Sumitomo is a large corporation with a profound impact on Japan’s economy, operating in numerous fields.

In fact, the century-old Japanese conglomerate has invested in and participated in projects such as the Thang Long I and II Industrial Parks (in Hanoi and Hung Yen), the elevated section of Ho Chi Minh City’s first metro line, and the construction of the Phả Lại, Duyên Hải 3 Expansion, and Phú Mỹ 2-2 thermal power plants. Their industrial parks have attracted more than $6 billion in investment and created nearly 100,000 jobs.

Notably, NHSC – a joint venture between BRG Group (Vietnam) and Sumitomo Group (Japan) – has just started the construction of the Northern Hanoi Smart City project on August 19. This project covers an area of over 270 hectares, with a total investment of up to $4.2 billion.

What are the three messages from the Prime Minister?

After listening to the opinions, the Prime Minister conveyed three main messages.

Specifically, the first message is that over the past 80 years, the business community has always followed the Party and accompanied the nation, closely linking their destiny with the country’s fate.

Especially after nearly 40 years of renovation, the business community has grown strongly. From 1986, with about 12,000 state-owned enterprises and nearly 40,000 agricultural cooperatives, and no private enterprises in the modern sense, Vietnam now has nearly 1 million enterprises, of which 98% are private, over 33,000 cooperatives in the new model, and more than 5 million business households.

The second message is that the Party and State always pay special attention to and create favorable conditions for the sustainable development of the business community and business people. Accordingly, in addition to enacting many laws, mechanisms, and policies to support business and business people, they have also reduced administrative procedures and minimized harassment and corruption. Vietnam also prioritizes and supports large enterprises that pioneer and lead some key and critical sectors; encourages and supports businesses to enter the international market and build international brands… Supports small businesses to become big and big businesses to become even bigger, participate in global value chains, and become multinational companies.

The third message is that as we enter a new era – an era of prosperity, civilization, and prosperity, standing shoulder to shoulder with the leading nations of the five continents – the Party and State hope that the business community and business people will promote the glorious and heroic tradition of 80 years, constantly innovate and create, with a strong aspiration to rise, and pioneer with the whole country to strive to achieve the two strategic goals for the centenary that were set out in the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress.

The head of the government stated that Vietnam aims to have about 2 million enterprises by 2030, contributing 55-58% of GDP and creating jobs for 84-85% of the labor force. By 2045, the country aims to have at least 3 million enterprises, contributing over 60% of GDP, with international competitiveness and deep participation in global value chains.