Vietnam is looking for a loan in a range of US$300 – 500 million from the Japanese government to address impacts of Covid-19, according to Vietnamese Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung.

Vietnamese Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung (R) and Japan's Ambassador to Vietnam Yamada Takio. Source: MoF.

As the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is cooperating with the World Bank to finalize a policy framework for such a type of loan, Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance and other government agencies would study the feasibility of the policy, Dung said at a meeting with Japan’s newly-appointed Ambassador to Vietnam Yamada Takio on June 1.

According to Dung, Vietnam – Japan relations are at its peak since the establishment of diplomatic relation in September 1973.

“Japan has become a comprehensive strategic partner of Vietnam in all spheres, particularly in economic, trade and investment activities,” Dung said.

As of 2019, Japan remained Vietnam’s second largest investor with a combined commitments of US$59.3 billion. Over the past few years, Japan has also been at the top in terms of trade revenue among 200 countries and territories having trade relation with Vietnam.

Moreover, Japan has been a major donor of official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam, estimated at US$24 billion, or 26.4% of total borrowings of the Vietnamese government.

Funds from Japan have been used for multiple purposes such as transportation, energy, healthcare and education, contributing significantly to Vietnam’s economic development and raising people’s living standard, Dung said.

Ambassador Takio said one of his key tasks is to enhance bilateral economic cooperation, and expressed hope to build close ties with the Ministry of Finance.

Takio spoke highly of Vietnam’s achievements in economic development, including fast economic growth, low inflation, declining fiscal deficit and lower public debt ratio.

Takio added as the world is seeing growing needs to diversify the global value chain and Vietnam has huge potential to take this opportunity for further growth.

The Japanese ambassador expected Vietnam to improve its credit rating and infrastructure system, the two major factors supporting the country’s development.