Japan on February 21 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Vietnam’s southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City to strengthen the city’s urban railway management capacity.

At the signing ceremony (Photo: VNA)

The sides concerned are the HCMC Management Authority for Urban Railways, the HCMC Urban Railway Company Limited No.1, and the Tokyo Metro. 

The signing aims to prepare for the operation of the HCM City Urban Railway – Line No.1 and Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line.

The Japanese company will share experience in urban railway management, technical cooperation, construction consultancy, and personnel exchange.

On this occasion, Japan pledged a non-refundable aid package for HCM City to upgrade the outdated sewer system.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong said the aid will pave the way for Japanese companies to mobilise capital and utilise technology to implement projects in HCM City.

Meanwhile, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Umeda Kunio thanked HCM City authorities for supporting Japanese firms in implementing the construction of the metro Line 1 and hoped for more attention from them to complete the project as scheduled.

He asked municipal authorities to help Japanese businesses to carry out projects in other fields such as real estate and water environment improvement.