Phan Van Mai, Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee (right) meets with Takei Shunsuke, State Minister for Foreign Affair of Japan on February 24. (Photo: VNA) HCM City(VNA) - Ho Chi Minh City has attached great importance to and highly evaluated the good relationshipbetween Vietnam and Japan and always defined its important role in enhancingthe two countries’ bilateral ties, a municipal official has said.
Phan Van Mai, Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, made the statement at a reception for Takei Shunsuke,State Minister for Foreign Affair of Japan, on February 24.
HCM City has always paid attention to and cooperated with the Consulate General of Japan in the city ineffectively implementing cultural activities and people-to-people exchangeswith the East Asia country, he said.
The city highly appreciates the upcoming Vietnam-Japan Festival in 2023,considering it a major event marking the start of a range of activities incelebration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties, Mai said, adding that it has closelycoordinated with the Japanese side to ensure the success of the festival.
The official suggested the Japanese Government and partners expand and diversify forms of cooperationwith HCM City, thus contributing to improving the city's integration capacity and spreadingtheir fruitful collaboration to the southern key economic regions and otherlocalities.
For his part, Takeisaid the relationship between Japan and Vietnam has been developingwell. The two countries have regularly exchanged high-level delegations, supported eachother to overcome difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic and determined tocontinue promoting their relations.
Japan highly appreciated the potential of HCM City and hoped that the city will further improve the investment environment, creating morefavourable conditions for Japanese businesses as well as contributing to fosteringcooperation between the two countries, he said.
Takei emphasised that Japan has always paid attention to the future of the two countries' relations, including the implementation of official development assistance (ODA) projects in Vietnam and HCM City.
The diplomat also said that Japan welcomes and supports the cityto expand exchanges and cooperation with Japanese partners, including Japaneselocalities that HCM City has signed friendship cooperation agreements with.
During his working visit to HCM city, the Japaneseofficial will attend the openingceremony of the Vietnam-Japan Festival 2023 and inspect the progress ofthe city’s Metro Line No 1 project./.
