Vietnam remains a potential market for Japanese investors

VIR has talked with Eximbank’s Mochizuki Masashi, senior director of Japanese Customers, and Yutaka Moriwaki, board member, senior director, and head of the Eximbank Restructuring Project, to gain a closer look into investment trends and the Japanese bank’s strategic investment.

Slower foreign direct investment (FDI) flows from Japan in the first quarter do not worry Japanese banks who have invested into local banks to cater to Japanese investors and businesses in Vietnam. At Eximbank, which is backed by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, things are turning sunnier with great expectations on FDI inflows from Japan and plans coming together to pump up the bank’s performance.

When Tokyo-based Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) made its first investment in Eximbank in 2008, it aimed to extend support and financial services to Japanese customers in Vietnam. Is SMBC satisfied with its results so far?

Since the beginning of the strategic partnership, the two banks have built a cooperation structure to support Japanese customers in Vietnam. In principle, Japanese customers are introduced by SMBC and we have enjoyed opportunities to conduct transactions with these customers. In return, we provide banking services which SMBC cannot provide in this market, such as retail services.

Consequently, this synergistic collaboration can create added values for Japanese customers and helps attracting more Japanese customers to conduct transactions in Vietnam through SMBC.

In the first quarter of this year, Japanese investment in Vietnam has reportedly fell behind South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore. As a strategic partner of a local bank that provides corporate advisory and financial services to Japanese investors, do you worry about investment flows? What are the reasons behind this slowdown in FDI?
In accordance with the statistics disclosed by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO), Japanese FDI flows were behind Korea and Singapore.