Vietnamese goods spotlighted in Japan’s AEON chain

Tokyo, June 12 (VNA) – Vietnamese goods are in the spotlight during a Vietnam – Hanoi Goods Week which is being held across 40 AEON shopping centres in Japan from June 7 to 10 as part of activities to mark the 45th year of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic ties. At the event at the AEON Lake Town centre in Japan’s Saitama prefecture on June 9, Vice Chairman of the capital People’s Committee Nguyen The Hung stressed that bilateral trade between Vietnam and Japan amounted to 33.4 billion USD last year. In 2017, Japan was also the biggest foreign investor in Vietnam with 9.1 billion USD, as well as the biggest foreign investor in Hanoi with over 900 projects worth 5.8 billion USD in registered capital He noted that the Vietnam – Hanoi Goods Week is an annual event of the AEON supermarket chain under its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hanoi on cooperation on trade, infrastructure investment and commodity sale promotion. Fourteen Vietnamese companies took part in the event in Saitama, showcasing their goods, including processed food, rice, coffee, cocoa, herbal shampoo bars, and handcrafts. Bui Thi Hanh Hieu, head of the Bao Minh farm produce company, said Vietnamese farm products suit the taste of Japanese people as well as Japanese dishes, which is an advantage for Vietnamese exporters. According to the Vietnam Embassy in Japan, Vietnam’s major exports to Japan in 2017 included garment and textile (3.11 billion USD, up 8.6 percent), aquatic products (1.3 billion USD) and wood and wood products (1.02 billion USD). In the first four months of this year, Vietnam exported 5.75 billion USD worth of goods to Japan, up 14.5 percent year on year. Director General of AEON Vietnam Yasuo Nishitoge underscored that meeting requirements on quality, production management and production machines are key to Vietnamese products hoping to enter Japan. He said as Japanese consumers have shown interest in Vietnamese goods, AEON is planning to import more products from the country./.