Participants at the festival. (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – The ASEAN-Japan Youth Festival was held in Ho Chi Minh City on December 13 night as part of activities to celebrate 50 years of ASEAN-Japan partnership and to enhance understanding and exchanges between the youths of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan.
About 110 young people from Japan and nine ASEAN countries - Campuchia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - joined the festival which is themed “ASEAN – Japan Youth Hand-in-hand to Implement Sustainable Development Goals”.
Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang said that the year 2023 holds a very special historical significance for both ASEAN and Japan as the two sides are celebrating the 50th founding anniversary of their cooperative relations, and at the same time upgraded their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Looking back on the past 50 years, people of the countries are happy to see the ASEAN-Japan cooperative relations have been developing strongly and achieved great achievements, he said.
The two sides are truly reliable partners of each other, making important contributions to peace, stability, cooperation and development in Southeast Asia, Asia Pacific, and the world, the Deputy PM stressed.
Quang noted that young people of ASEAN and Japan have been making great contributions to the ASEAN-Japan cooperation.
He urged young people to promote their dynamism, creativity, intelligence and desire for innovation to help the ASEAN-Japan relations grow stronger and stronger and successfully implement sustainable development goals for the happiness of the people of the ASEAN countries and Japan, for peace and prosperity of the region and the world.
Within the framework of the festival, participants engaged in exchanges, sports and cultural activities, including experiencing local culture and cuisine, visiting some landmarks in Ho Chi Minh City, visiting an exhibition on friendship relations and youth cooperation between ASEAN and Japan, and attending mangrove tree planting in Can Gio district./.
