Vinh Long (VNA) – The People’s Committee of southern Vinh Long province and the administration of Japan’s Ehime prefecture are set to strengthen cooperation in fostering sustainable economic development under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on January 12.
Under the MoU, the two sides agreed to bolster economic development by forming and enhancing sustainable partnerships, with a focus on trade, industry, investment, technology, and human resources training. They will boost cultural exchanges, forge close-knit ties, step up information sharing, and create opportunities for business cooperation, thereby supporting local and business development.
Besides, Vinh Long and Ehime will work together to organise business exchanges, networking conferences, technology introducing workshops, specialised meetings, and similar events to generate practical business chances.
They will prioritise promoting cooperation in the fields of shared interest such as agro-forestry-fishery processing and projects related to the Sustainable Development Goals like climate change response.
Coordination will also be enhanced in training human resources, and sending and receiving workers such as technical interns to help with sustainable local economic development.
Addressing the signing ceremony, Chairman of the Vinh Long People’s Committee Tran Tri Quang said his province boasts many outstanding advantages in industrial infrastructure, renewable energy, agriculture, culture – tourism, and education – training.
Its economic links with Japanese partners have been expanded continuously, he noted, elaborating that in 2025, Vinh Long’s exports to Japan topped 767 million USD while imports exceeded 241 million USD. The province is currently home to 15 FDI projects worth 341.58 million USD from Japan, placing the Northeast Asian country fourth among 24 foreign investors here.
Quang highlighted tangible cooperation results between the two sides, including between Ehime and former Ben Tre province, which was recently merged into Vinh Long, particularly in labour, agriculture, trade and investment promotion, and people-to-people exchanges.
The MoU signing for the new period is of importance as it builds on previous cooperation achievements and opens up a new cooperation phase, commensurate with the scale, potential, and development orientation of the expanded Vinh Long, he continued.
The official voiced his belief that based on the Vietnam – Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership as well as the mutual trust and goodwill of both sides, Vinh Long – Ehime relations will become increasingly substantive and fruitful, especially in the areas matching their strengths and demand like human resources development, hi-tech agriculture, processing, logistics, tourism, and cultural exchanges.
Ehime Governor Tokihiro Nakamura noted that since an MoU between his prefecture and former Ben Tre province was inked in August 2022, many cooperation projects have been carried out effectively, including Japanese firms’ projects in industrial parks, those applying energy-saving technologies, renewable energy and waste treatment projects, and the sending of Vietnam’s technical interns to Japan.
The Governor said he believes the new MoU will help elevate bilateral relations by facilitating more investment and economic cooperation projects in Vinh Long in the coming time./.
VNA
