Vietnam welcomes the proposal on establishing a Vietnam-Japan University in Hanoi to train workforce for the two countries’ business communities, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. PM Dung, who wrapped up a four-day visit to Japan on Dec 15, made the statement at a meeting with Nikai Toshihiro, chairman of the Japan-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance (JVPFA), on Dec 13. The proposal promoted by the two countries’ partners and supported by the JVPFA would help enhance the Vietnam-Japan relations, especially education ties, the PM noted. As the top foreign investor in Vietnam, Japanese firms’ demand for skilled laborers has increased sharply amid a local shortfall. In 2012, of the total 137,756 international students in Japan, there were 4,373 Vietnamese students, up 8.4% from last year, according to statistics from the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO). The figure put Vietnam at the fourth place among regional countries for having the largest number of students in Japan. Japanese companies have invested nearly $5.68 billion in Vietnam in the first 11 months of this year, topping among foreign investors in the Southeast Asian nation. Total foreign direct investment (FDI) of Japanese companies in Vietnam is expected to rise to between $45 billion and $50 billion by 2015 from the current $34.52 billion. (www.vov.vn [1] Dec 13)
