Ho Chi Minh City courts Aichi manufacturers as Japanese investment hits $15.36bn

Ho Chi Minh City is sitting on roughly US$15.36 billion of registered Japanese investment across 2,346 projects — and it wants more, specifically from Aichi Prefecture's manufacturing base. The pitch came Monday at the 2026 Ho Chi Minh City–Aichi Investment Promotion Conference in Nagoya, where city officials urged Japanese firms to shift capacity into manufacturing, high-tech industry, logistics and green energy.

The number that will catch a supply chain planner's eye sits elsewhere in the source: the city pulled in more than $19.1 billion in foreign investment in the first ten months of 2026, a four-fold increase against the same period last year. Pham Quang Quang Nhat's predecessor statistic — delivered by Pham Quang Nhat, head of the Ho Chi Minh City Investment and Trade Promotion Center — signals that capital is already moving before this week's courting began. A caveat applies: registered capital is not disbursed capital, and the source is silent on how much of that $19.1 billion has actually landed as factories, equipment or warehouse space.

What is on the table for Aichi investors?

Japan ranked third among 152 countries and territories investing in the city as of August 31, behind two economies the source does not name. Tran Van Bay, vice-chairman of the city administration, told the conference that Japan remains one of Ho Chi Minh City's most important investment partners, and that cooperation with Aichi has moved over the past decade from cultural and tourism exchanges into industrial and technological collaboration.

The event marked the tenth anniversary of the friendship partnership between the two. More than 180 government and business representatives attended. City officials flagged opportunity areas:

• Manufacturing and high-technology industries
• Logistics and supply chains
• Green energy
• Tourism
• Workforce development and AI adoption in production

The conference also broke format: for the first time, promotion activities ran alongside an exhibition, letting firms examine investment conditions, showcase projects and hunt for partners directly.

Who is actually in the room?

Names matter more than communiqués. Representatives from JETRO Nagoya, Vietnamese industrial park developer Becamex IDC, Saigontourist Group, Kyoei, FPT Automotive and Catex discussed industrial park development, supporting industries, supply-chain connectivity and artificial intelligence in manufacturing. Aichi Governor Omura Hideaki described Ho Chi Minh City as a leading destination for Aichi businesses in Vietnam, citing strong economic growth, a young workforce and an expanding consumer market — the standard triad in every investment pitch in Southeast Asia, and unquantified in the source.

He affirmed Aichi would keep promoting economic exchanges with the city. Ho Chi Minh City, in turn, pledged continued support for Aichi investors exploring and implementing projects. The Investment and Trade Promotion Center was designated the focal point for follow-up, tasked with converting this week's discussions into concrete projects — a promise that carries no deadline, no target value and no named pipeline.

Why the city thinks it can absorb the inflow

The underlying case rests on scale. Ho Chi Minh City holds a population exceeding 14 million and contributes about 23.5 percent of Vietnam's GDP, with a network of financial, industrial and logistics services plus port infrastructure anchoring its appeal. For Japanese manufacturers weighing China-plus-one or further diversification, those ports are the operational draw — the source names no terminal operators, berth counts or throughput figures, so shippers should treat the logistics claim as directional rather than measured.

What shippers and forwarders should watch

For carriers and forwarders serving the Japan–Vietnam trade, a deepening Aichi manufacturing footprint in southern Vietnam implies incremental demand for machinery imports, components for supporting industries, and finished-goods export capacity through the city's port system. None of that is contracted yet. The mechanism to watch is the Investment and Trade Promotion Center's follow-up process: if the $19.1 billion ten-month figure reflects a durable trend rather than a one-off spike, capacity planners on the lane will need to price it in — and the center's conversion of Monday's talks into signed projects will be the first test.