Japan and Vietnam have agreed to work together for the promotion of the textile industry in Vietnam. The agreement, which the two sides reached at a joint committee meeting in Hanoi on Saturday, is aimed at dealing with an expected increase in Vietnamese textile exports to the US once the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement enters into force, Japanese news agency Jiji Press has reported. Japan, Vietnam and the US are among the 12 nations that signed the TPP deal in February. At the first meeting of the Joint Committee between Japan and Vietnam on Cooperation in Industry, Trade and Energy, the two countries also agreed to start an industrial policy dialogue at an early date and discuss specific measures. Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Motoo Hayashi expressed Tokyo’s hope of expanding bilateral trade and promoting Japanese companies’ investment in Vietnam. “By using this committee as a springboard, we want to advance economic relations between Japan and Vietnam to a new stage,” he said. The Japanese and Vietnamese governments agreed in July last year to establish the committee for strengthening bilateral economic cooperation. Under the TPP, restrictions on foreign investment in Vietnam’s retail industry will be eased.
