Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan has stated that the locality has prepared for setting up several industrial zones to attract Japanese investors, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises and those operating in the support industry.

Quan made the remark at a January 14 reception for Governor of Japan’s Ehime prefecture Tokihiro Nakamura and its businesses now on a working visit to Vietnam.

He expressed his belief that the visit will help intensify the two sides’ cooperation and investment, thus nurturing the fine friendship between Vietnam and Japan.

He said that in 2013, Ho Chi Minh City coordinated with several Japanese localities to hold many seminars to promote investment.

The city now has nearly 150,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Nakamura said that his visit aims to complete an agreement in which Ehime will receive Vietnamese students to do research and work in the prefecture, as well as connect its enterprises with Vietnamese ones.

He suggested the two sides combine the strength of Vietnam’s young population with Japan’s scientific-technological development.

Ehime prefecture can boost cooperation with the Vietnamese side in paper production, mechanical engineering, ship-building, and mobile phone component manufacturing, he added.-VNA