State President Nguyen Minh Triet and Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem both received Governor Yamada Keiji of Japan’s Kyoto Prefecture, separately, in Hanoi on Oct. 22.

President Triet highlighted Kyoto’s strengths in economics, education and training, science and technology and hi-tech industry. He urged bilateral cooperation be geared to a broader dimension, focusing on education and training and environmentally-friendly technology.

“The State of Vietnam has always encouraged and provided the best possible conditions for its students to go to Japan for study and research,” said the State leader.

He also attached importance to small and medium-sized investment projects, along with major ones, and called on Japanese business circles to invest more in Vietnam.

“The investment climate in Vietnam is improving quickly and can now meet demand by investors from Kyoto prefecture and Japan as a whole,” Triet emphasised.

For his part, the Japanese guest said Kyoto has been encouraging its investors to open businesses in Southeast Asia with Vietnam as a major priority.

So far, 25 companies from Kyoto are operational in Vietnam with a combined investment of an estimated 57 million USD, focusing on mechanical engineering, assembly and parts production.

Yamada added that his administration also cares for ties other than investments, emphasising education as its strength.

“The Kyoto administration expects a boom in the number of Vietnamese students in the years to come,” the governor said.

He also expressed interest in boosting ties in environmental research and high technology.

On the first day of his two-day stay in Vietnam, Yamada also met with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.

Khiem expressed satisfaction at the recent fine development of the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Japan, to which Kyoto contributed a part.

He emphasised the need for the both sides to strengthen relations in education and training, especially between universities.

For his part, the Japanese guest assured Khiem of boosting cooperation between Kyoto and Vietnamese local administrations with a focus on investments by medium and small-sized enterprises./.