Can Tho (VNA) – Vice Chairwoman of the Can Tho municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Ngoc Diep held a working session with Director of the Bureau of Roads and Sewerage of Japan’s Fukuoka city Fukuyama Takeshi on June 2 to review a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-funded technical cooperation project on drainage management for climate resilience.
The two sides discussed specific plans to expand economic cooperation and cultural exchanges, and share expertise on sustainable urban infrastructure management.
Diep called the delegation’s second visit this year a practical step toward realising the memoranda of understanding between Can Tho and Fukuoka as well as that between the municipal Construction Department and Fukuoka’s bureau.
She proposed that Fukuoka’s bureau support research, building and piloting of effective drainage models based on Japanese experience tailored to Can Tho’s conditions, to be refined and replicated later.
The project is scheduled to run from October 2025 to September 2028. But Can Tho wants to accelerate it, aiming for visible results in about 18 months, not the full three years, she noted.
To such end, Can Tho has carefully selected staff for training in Fukuoka. The city expects them to contribute to the ongoing project and then become the core workforce operating and managing the wastewater system sustainably, using Japanese expertise.
Takeshi, in reply, expressed full support for accelerating the project to deliver measurable results within 18 months.
Fukuoka, he stressed, does not intend to mechanically apply Japanese experience in Vietnam. Instead, its experts will learn to understand Can Tho’s actual systems and operating environment. Specialists from both sides will then evaluate and develop the most appropriate technological solutions and management models.
Fukuoka pledges to share as much information, documentation, and practical experience as possible to support Can Tho’s on-the-ground activities, he said.
In October 2025, the municipal People’s Committee approved grant assistance for the project. Specific goals include improving planning capacity for wastewater collection, enhancing operations and management of existing treatment plants, and the city’s ability to run public awareness campaigns.
The approved budget totals 384,683 USD, entirely non-refundable JICA grant aid, with JICA directly managing the funds and running project activities in line with regulations./.
