Attending the event were representatives from ministries andauthorities of Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Quang Nam, QuangNgai and Binh Dinh, along with more than 250 Vietnamese and Japanese businesses.
On the Japanese side there were Ambassador Umeda Kunio andofficials from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the JapanExternal Trade Organisation (JETRO)-Ho Chi Minh City office, the JapanFoundation, the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) and the JapanBusiness Association in Vietnam (JBAV).
Speaking at the event, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen QuocDung said Japan is a partner of top significance to Vietnam, as the country isthe largest provider of official development assistance, the second largestsource of foreign direct investment, the third largest source of touristarrivals and the fourth largest trade partner of Vietnam.
Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Umeda Kunio hailed the eventas a useful activity to realise outcomes of visits by the two countries’leaders in the context that Vietnam and Japan are actively preparing for the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.
Kunio said as many as 2,527 Japanese firms are doingbusiness in Vietnam, the third biggest number in a Southeast Asian country onlybehind Thailand and Singapore. Over the past five years, Japanese touristarrivals in the country have soared five-fold to 740,000.
Four discussion sessions at the conference focused ondevelopment cooperation, human resources training, locality-to-locality partnership,cultural-tourism exchange and investment.
Participants agreed that there is great potential forcooperation between the south central region and Japan, and local authoritiesmust play a crucial role to promote the partnership, especially in researchingcooperative possibilities and facilitating the attraction and implementation ofjoint projects.
Representatives from JICA, JETRO and Vietnamese expertsshared experience in attracting Japanese investment, particularly in tourism,infrastructure and energy.
Concluding the event, Dung said the Foreign Ministry isdetermined to stand side by side with localities in global integration andstrengthen effective and practical linkages with important partners, includingJapan.
On the sidelines of the event, the Japanese Ambassador heldtalks with leaders of seven south central localities. Vietnamese and Japaneseenterprises also took the occasion to meet for networking.-VNA