Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on December 16 called on Japan’s Tochigi prefecture to promote more substantive and comprehensive cooperation with Vietnamese localities, particularly through practical projects that maximise each side’s strengths and potential.
Receiving Governor of Tochigi prefecture Fukuda Tomikazu in Hanoi, PM Chinh welcomed the official back to Vietnam at a time when the Vietnam–Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is continuing to develop strongly, substantively and effectively, with growing political trust.
The PM congratulated Tochigi on its development achievements, which have contributed to Japan’s overall growth as well as relations between the two countries.
He thanked Japan for its consistent support for Vietnam, especially during difficult periods such as the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that Japan remains Vietnam’s leading partner in official development assistance (ODA) and labour cooperation, third-largest foreign investor, and fourth-largest partner in trade and tourism. Cooperation in science and technology, innovation and high-quality human resources training has emerged as a new pillar that the two countries are actively promoting, the leader noted.
According to the Vietnamese PM, exchanges at the local level, people-to-people contacts and cultural exchanges have become increasingly dynamic and close. The Vietnamese community in Japan has now surpassed 630,000 people, while more than 2,000 Japanese enterprises, including 22 from Tochigi, are investing and operating in Vietnam.
PM Chinh expressed his appreciation to Fukuda and the Tochigi authorities for their active support and promotion of friendly cooperation with Vietnam, particularly the partnership between Tochigi and Phu Tho province across such areas as economy, investment, trade, tourism, human resources and culture. He also thanked the prefecture's administration for its continued attention and assistance to nearly 9,000 Vietnamese people living, studying and working in Tochigi.
Sharing Vietnam’s goals and solutions for development in the new era, described as the era of the nation’s rise, PM Chinh voiced his hope that Japan in general, and Tochigi prefecture and Fukuda in particular, would continue to support and cooperate with Vietnam to help realise these objectives.
The PM urged Tochigi to further promote substantive and comprehensive cooperation with Vietnamese localities, including those with which it already has ties, such as Phu Tho province. He emphasised the importance of implementing specific, practical cooperation projects that fully tap each locality’s potential and strengths, ensure balanced benefits for all parties, and at the same time study the possibility of expanding cooperation with new, suitable Vietnamese localities.
He also suggested Tochigi to continue motivating its businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises, to expand investment in Vietnam in areas where the prefecture has strengths; enhance cooperation in human resources training; promote training collaboration and the reception of high-quality Vietnamese workers in line with the needs of both sides; and maintain favourable conditions and practical support policies for the Vietnamese community in Tochigi.
For his part, Fukuda, who is on his fourth visit to Vietnam, expressed his pleasure at meeting PM Chinh again and voiced admiration for Vietnam’s rapid development in recent years. He praised Vietnam’s improved investment and business environment, rich culture and friendly people, and affirmed that Tochigi and its businesses would continue to expand cooperation and investment in Vietnam, particularly at the local level.
He also highlighted the successful organisation of the third Vietnam Festival in Tochigi, which attracted nearly 5,000 participants.
The Governor reaffirmed the prefecture’s commitment to expanding cooperation with Vietnam, including Phu Tho province, especially in labour cooperation and tourism exchanges. Tochigi will continue to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in the prefecture, he added./.
