Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hoang Long and Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Ito Naoki co-chaired the 4th High-Level Meeting of the Asia Zero Emissions Community (AZEC) Initiative between Vietnam and Japan and the 2nd High-Level Meeting of the Project Acceleration Platform (PAP) in Hanoi on November 17.

The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) exchange their MoU on cooperation at the meetings.

To promote energy transition towards Vietnam’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, the AZEC/GX Promotion Working Team was established within the AZEC initiative to strengthen cooperation in developing the investment environment and human resources.

In addition, the PAP under the AZEC was also created to expedite the implementation of specific projects. In March 2025, pilot projects were selected to be included in the PAP.

At the high-level Vietnam-Japan talks in April, 15 projects were identified as “Vietnam–Japan cooperation projects.” On July 31, six first projects were discussed within the framework of the High-level Meeting, and both sides agreed to continue discussions.

Nine projects were considered at the second PAP High-level Meeting, including two projects in Phase 1 and seven in Phase 2.

Hailing the significance of the AZEC, Long said that in recent times, with the coordination of the Japanese Embassy, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, along with groups and corporations in the energy sector, and local authorities, has organised numerous project-related discussions, helping all parties gain a clearer understanding of expectations and proposals.

Based on the discussions at the 3rd High-level AZEC Meeting, during the process of developing mechanisms and policies, the ministry has studied and coordinated with relevant agencies to make recommendations to higher authorities on energy-related issues such as the Direct Power Purchase Agreement (DPPA), LNG-fired power plants, rooftop solar power, and other forms of renewable energy.

According to the official, the proposals made at the meetings are very important for Vietnamese agencies, especially local authorities, to better understand Japanese investors, thereby making adjustments to help accelerate the progress of projects under the AZEC initiative and enable them to benefit from policies to be issued in the near future.

Ito Naoki stated that Japanese and Vietnamese enterprises have made considerable efforts to identify obstacles and propose numerous solutions with a desire to jointly improve and complete the institutional framework.

In this process, listening to feedback and maintaining two-way dialogue is particularly important for Vietnam’s policy refinement.

The key issue is how to further expand the space for dialogue and attract the participation of all relevant stakeholders, thereby enabling deeper discussions and concrete solutions to improve the investment environment, he stressed.

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