Jointly hosted by the People’s Committee of Ba Ria - Vung Tau, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Sanjo city, the function aimed to review the human resources development project funded by JICA to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the province.

Participants at the conference. (Photo: VNA)

Under the MoU, the two sides will create opportunities for personnel and information exchange related to trade and industry, tourism, agriculture, and other areas of common concern to promote mutual understanding and cooperation.

Sanjo will encourage companies operating in the city to accept laborers from Ba Ria - Vung Tau to develop human resources and contribute to promoting industrial development and improving the industrial environment of the Vietnamese locality, while Ba Ria - Vung Tau will provide information to Sanjo and create favorable conditions for sending laborers to work in Japan.

The two sides will also urge their educational institutions to enhance cooperation, contributing to developing and improving academic research activities.

The Sanjo project worth 1.9 million USD was started in 2019 and will finish in August this year.

According to the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, the project provides technical support and management skill training for SMEs in Ba Ria–Vung Tau and helps train officials and staff of the provincial industry and trade sector to develop solutions and policies to support SMEs.

Based on the results achieved from the project, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Cong Vinh proposed the provincial Department of Industry and Trade continuously apply the knowledge and experience gained to give policy advice for building programmes to support local SMEs.

He also asked departments and sectors such as tourism, agriculture and rural development, education and training, labor, invalids, and social affairs, as well as universities and colleges in the locality to strengthen cooperation and experience sharing with Sanjo.

He expressed his hope that Sanjo, JICA, and Japanese businesses will continue to support agencies and enterprises from both sides in enhancing connection and implementing new development cooperation initiatives between the two localities, and in training high-quality human resources, implementing new-generation ODA projects, and promoting digital transformation, digital economy, and green growth in the coming time.

The mayor of Sanjo Ryo Takizawa said he believes that the connection between companies from the two localities will continue even after the project ends.

Sanjo hopes to continue supporting the development of the two sides’ businesses in areas such as human resource training and market development, he went on.