Ho Chi Minh City and Japan continue to promote local cooperation

Vice Chairman Vo Van Hoan presents a commemorative gift to Japanese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Komura Masahiro. (Photo: hcmcpv.org.vn)

On September 24, he made these remarks while receiving Japanese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Komura Masahiro, who paid a courtesy visit in conjunction with attending the 2024 Ho Chi Minh City Friendship Dialogue and Economic Forum.

During the meeting, Vice Chairman Vo Van Hoan thanked Vice Minister Komura Masahiro for attending the Ho Chi Minh City Friendship Dialogue and Economic Forum 2024. He emphasized the long-standing bond and cooperation between Vietnam and Japan.

He also proposed that Vice Minister Komura advocate and encourage the Japanese government to support the completion of Ho Chi Minh City’s metro system under the new generation official development assistance (ODA) model. This includes Japanese support in knowledge, technology and finance, along with a more proactive combination of state budget funds and ODA loans, and a deeper involvement of the business community and service users.

Additionally, Vice Chairman Hoan asked Vice Minister Komura to actively support trade promotion activities between Ho Chi Minh City and Japan, and between Vietnam and Japan in general, to facilitate exports and increase export value. He also requested that the Japanese government and JICA prioritize cooperation in developing Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) projects in the city, promoting Vietnam-Japan business cooperation, and providing financial incentives for businesses in both countries to work with Ho Chi Minh City on TOD and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects. He highlighted the importance of Japan’s support for human resource development in Ho Chi Minh City through training programs, vocational education and making Ho Chi Minh City a priority location for cooperation in human resource programs.

Furthermore, he expressed his hope that Vice Minister Komura would support the idea of making the Vietnam-Japan Festival an annual event, to be alternately hosted by Ho Chi Minh City and Japan in the coming years.

Vice Minister Komura Masahiro thanked the Ho Chi Minh City government for inviting him to the two major events in the city and wished for their success. He praised the city’s investment environment and expressed his hope that Ho Chi Minh City will continue to improve it to attract more Japanese businesses.

Vice Minister Komura also appreciated Ho Chi Minh City's initiative to organize the Friendship Dialogue, providing an opportunity for exchange between localities that have ties with the city. Ho Chi Minh City has cooperative relations with several Japanese localities, and he hopes that these exchanges will be strengthened in the future./.