A booth at the 10th Việt Nam-Japan Supporting Industry Exhibition (SIE) which opened in the capital city on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Việt

HÀ NỘI — Supporting industries play a significant role in the economic restructuring towards industrialisation and modernisation, contributing to enhancing labour productivity, competitive capacity, and value creation, and increasing the contribution of the processing and manufacturing industries to the wider economy.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Đỗ Thắng Hải delivered this statement at the opening ceremony of the 10th Việt Nam-Japan Supporting Industry Exhibition (SIE) in the capital city on Wednesday.

Recognising the importance of supporting industries, the Government has implemented the Supporting Industry Development Programme which runs until 2025.

Through this programnme support has been provided to Vietnamese enterprises to adopt modern quality standards and management systems and gradually integrate into the global supply chain. It will also increase localisation rates in important manufacturing sectors such as automobiles, textiles, footwear, and electronics.

The State has created favourable conditions for supporting industry firms to  sharpen their competitiveness, Hải said.

In his speech, Hải also praised the Việt Nam-Japan Supporting Industries Exhibition, saying that it will provide practical opportunities for Vietnamese supporting industry firms to access and learn about new market trends, and technological innovations, and to directly engage with potential partners from Japan and internationally, thus contributing significantly to the strong and sustainable transformation of Việt Nam's supporting industry.

Hosted by the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) Office in Hà Nội and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)'s Trade Promotion Agency, this year's edition attracted 50 firms from Việt Nam and Japan.

Takeo Nakajima, the chief representative of the JETRO Office in Hà Nội said the percentage of domestic procurement in Việt Nam for Japanese companies increased to 37 per cent in 2022 from 28 per cent 10 years ago as per a JETRO survey.

Despite this growth, it still did not match the economic development pace of both countries, he said.

Furthermore, among the total localisation rate, the rate of sourcing components from Vietnamese businesses stood at only 15 per cent. This figure was lower than neighbouring countries such as Thailand and Malaysia. Vietnamese enterprises need to make efforts to enhance their supply capabilities to increase the localisation rate, he said.

He added that this year's exhibition features participation from 22 Japanese companies seeking Vietnamese suppliers and 28 Vietnamese companies aiming to provide for Japanese partners. The Japanese companies in this exhibition come from various sizes in industries such as motorcycle and automobile parts, industrial machinery, and moulds in Việt Nam.

Through this exhibition, JETRO aims to contribute to the development of the supporting industries in Việt Nam and support Japanese companies in finding suitable suppliers, thereby promoting trade and investment growth between our two countries, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Japan-Việt Nam diplomatic relations.

The SIE runs along with the 14th Vietnam Manufacturing Expo (VME), one of the leading exhibitions on machinery and technology for manufacturing.

Organised by RX Tradex Co, VME is displaying the latest machinery and technologies for manufacturing and supporting industries by 200 brands from 20 leading technology countries including Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan (China), and Thailand together with the participation of more than 200 international booths and many leading companies in Việt Nam.

"Việt Nam is gaining a reputation as a top destination of new investment for manufacturing to meet the rapid increase in demand for both export and domestic consumption," said Yip Je Choong, Senior Vice President, Commercial - Asia Pacific, Corporate Management of RELX (Singapore) cum Representative of RX Tradex Vietnam.

"RX believes that exhibition is one of the most critical platforms for international and domestic buyers and sellers to meet and create new business opportunities while helping grow Việt Nam’s capabilities and competitiveness," he said.

The event will also create business opportunities for both global brands and small and medium-sized enterprises to do business with multinational companies via connecting and supporting activities during show days.

Also, it will be the industry’s connecting hub where over 10,000 industrial part-making factory owners, engineers and industrialists can gather to discover new solutions and partners via special activities offered at exhibitor’s booths, he said.

The two expos are taking place until Friday at Hanoi International Centre for Exhibition.