The event aims to foster two-way trade of arts and craft and consumer goods, and attract Japanese businesses to invest in Vietnam.

Vietnamese ambassador to Japan Doan Xuan Hung said Japan is one of Vietnam’s leading partners with bilateral trade turnover in 2011 hitting US$21 billion and Japan’s committed investment capital in Vietnam reaching US$26 billion.

In Q1 of this year, Vietnam’s export to Japan was up 65 percent compared to the same period last year.

Okano Masaaki, deputy director of Japan’s Asia New Power Company, said Japanese enterprises should provide information about their demand and Vietnamese businesses research carefully about the Japanese market to produce goods with good quality, new design and competitive prices.

Nguyen Trung Dung, commercial counsellor of the Embassy of Vietnam in Japan, noted that due to difficulties in the global economy, the bilateral trade turnover between the two countries is not as good as expected.

However, since the beginning of the year, the art and handicraft import export turnover between Vietnam and Japan has shown signs of increasing, he noted.