Tuesday, 20/03/2018 21:29 (GMT+7)
During his working visit to Japan, on March 19th, Politburo member and Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh city Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan met with Japanese officials.
Secretary Nhan and Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono (Photo: VNA)
They included Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko and Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Keiichi Ishii, and President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Shinichi Kitaoka.
During the meetings, Secretary Nhan appreciated the Vietnam - Japan relations in general and the cooperation between Ho Chi Minh city and Japanese localities in particular, confirming that the relations were developing better than ever.
Introducing the Vietnamese city’s outstanding characteristics, Secretary Nhan said that the city’s population increased to 10 million at present from 5 million in 1991, and the figure is expected to be increased to 13-15 million by 2030. “Although its population accounts only for 9% of the nation, it contributes 22% of Vietnam’s GDP,” he asserted, adding that the city’s current obstacles for development are traffic infrastructure and water sewerage. “Therefore, Japan’s assistance in infrastructure is very important,” he said.
Japan has become Vietnam’s biggest investor and provider of official development assistance (ODA) funding. According to Secretary Nhan, 2 important infrastructure constructions typical of the cooperation between Vietnam and Japan are Can Tho and Nhat Tan bridges which play an important role in Vietnam’s economy.
He expressed his hope that Japanese investors would continue to support and invest in Ho Chi Minh city, especially in high quality infrastructure.
Appreciating the role of Ho Chi Minh city, the Japanese Ministers and JICA President said that they would be willing to support it building high quality infrastructure.
On the same day, Secretary Nhan visited Ibaraki prefecture./.
Compiled by BTA