Vietnam’s National Innovation Center (NIC) and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) on October 19 signed a memorandum of understanding to boost cooperation in innovation.

NIC's Vice Director Vu Quoc Huy (R) and JETRO's Chief Representative in Hanoi Takeo Nakajima (L). Source: MPI.

The signing ceremony took place during the first state visit of Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to Vietnam on October 18 – 20.

Chief Representative of JETRO in Hanoi Takeo Nakajima said the Japanese business community has high expectations that Vietnam would manufacture high-added value products, which could be achieved via greater efforts in improving the country’s internal strength and speeding up the digital transformation process.

Under the agreement, Japanese investors would have more opportunities to partner with innovative companies in Vietnam, a key step that would support innovation cooperation between not only the two countries, but also in two business communities.

Specifically, both the NIC and JETRO would help facilitate partnership among Vietnamese, Japanese enterprises and investors in the field of innovation, as well as supporting the development of new business models based on the advantages of each country.

Vice Director of the NIC Vu Quoc Huy said Vietnam is in the process of establishing a network of innovation with the participation of experts in advanced countries, including Japan, Australia, Germany, and the US, among others.

In Japan, Vietnam has already formed the Vietnam – Japan Open Innovation Network (VJOIN) with thousands of members, which is a part of a broader Vietnam Innovation Network, he added.

The main objective of the network is to cooperate with the global community in creating new products, technologies, business and corporate governance model for the development of Vietnam, said Mr. Huy.