Vietnam, Fukushima prefecture step up relations

Tokyo (VNA) – Japan’s Fukushima prefecture wants to foster relations with Vietnam across the fields of economics, tourism and human resource training while receiving Vietnamese trainees and labourers.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Cao Cuong is paying a four-day working visit to the northeastern locality from March 17, where the prefecture’s leaders told him about the dire consequences of the natural disaster and subsequent nuclear accident five years ago.

During the meeting, Governor Masao Uchimori and Representative Junichi Sugiyama thanked the Vietnamese Government and people for supporting residents in Fukushima and neighbouring regions when they had to confront the terrible disaster.

Local people have made concerted efforts to recover from the tragedy, they highlighted.

Addressing an economic conference, jointly held by the Vietnamese Embassy, the Fukushima chapter of the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association and Toho bank, Ambassador Cuong underscored the great potential for cooperation between Vietnam and Japan.

He highlighted the sound relations between the two countries in the past and Vietnam’s strategy to deepen economic integration.

A line-up of local enterprises said that they are planning to expand factories and are seeking business opportunities in Vietnam in precision engineering, electronics and agriculture.

Along with visiting food safety inspection centres and agricultural farms in Fukushima, the delegation from the Vietnamese Embassy worked with the Tokiwakai Group, who operate medical facilities, visiting the Group’s nursing homes and hospitals to study their demands for Vietnamese trainees and nurses.

On the occasion, Ambassador Cuong also met with Vietnamese students and trainees who are studying and working in the prefecture.-VNA