The Vietnamese government has approved the launching a direct flight route from Vietnam's Hanoi capital to Japan's Kansai region, local newspaper Vietnam News reported Tuesday.

 

The government has assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment to prepare for the opening of the route, which is expected to help improve economic and investment cooperation between the two countries.

 

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung talked about the issue on Monday while meeting with visiting honor chairman of the Kansai Economic Federation Yoshihisa Akiyama.

 

The federation houses 40 big companies, including those involving in finance, banking, information technology, electronics, telecommunications, export and import.

 

The trade between Vietnam and Japan is expected rise to US$17 billion in 2010 from nearly 10 billion dollars in 2006. As of March 22, Japan, with 766 operational investment projects worth nearly 7.8 billion dollars, ranked fourth among 77 countries and regions investing in Vietnam.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2007)