Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City andJapan’s Aichi prefecture will increase online meetings between leaders andagencies during the COVID-19 outbreak, in order to prepare for theimplementation of cooperation activities when possible.
Consensus was reached during a virtual meeting betweenChairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong and Aichi’sGovernor Ohmura Hideaki on September 14.
Phong thanked the Japanese Government for its timelysupport to Vietnam in the pandemic fight and expressed his hope that Japan, andAichi prefecture in particular, will successfully bring the disease undercontrol.
HCM City is working hard to complete the dual tasks ofeffectively fighting the pandemic and ensuring socio-economic development, hesaid, adding that it would like to exchange experience and cooperate with Aichiin this regard.
Highlighting the fruitful development of the friendshipbetween the two localities, Phong said the limited exchanges and meetings dueto COVID-19 would not undermine the dynamism in bilateral ties.
HCM City stands ready to partner with Aichi to step uponline dialogues at all levels to maintain and consolidate relations, andwishes to intensify cooperation activities in traditional areas such as tourismand education, he continued.
The official called on Aichi’s businesses to invest inthe southern Vietnamese metropolis, contributing to strengthening thefriendship between the two localities.
For his part, Ohmura pledged to facilitatecollaboration between HCM City and Aichi after the pandemic is brought undercontrol.
The Governor expressed his hope of receiving more cooperationfrom HCM City in order to organise Vietnam Festivals in Aichi next year, which havebeen suspended this year.
Hirose Noriko, HCM City’s tourism ambassador in Aichi,said that despite the pandemic the prefecture is still ready to realise cooperationprogrammes once the disease is contained.
Trade between HCM City and Japan reached 3 billion USDin the first seven months of this year. Japan ranks fifth among 110 countriesand territories investing the southern hub, with total investment amounting to4.5 billion USD.
As of August 2019, Aichi had 43 companies in HCM City,with nearly 37 million USD, making up about 30 percent of total businessesinvesting in Vietnam. Companies are primarily in auto repairs,information-communications, science-technology, and processing and manufacturing./.
VNA
