PM Pham Minh Chinh receives Special Advisor to Japan-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) and Special Advisor to the Japan-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance Takebe Tsutomu. (Photo: VNA)

Prime Minister Chinh hailed the Festival as the first major event during the inaugural year of the Vietnam-Japan comprehensive strategic partnership, which attracted nearly 400,000 visitors on March 9-10, 2024.

He thanked Takebe for his wholehearted, inspirational and constructive contributions to fostering the Vietnam-Japan friendly cooperation, especially regarding the construction of the Vietnam-Japan University (VJU).

The Prime Minister wished that Takebe would continue to help with concretising the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership through specific projects and programmes across various sectors; stepping up educational cooperation, including upgrading the Japanese Culture and Language Centre at Ha Long University into a centre for Japanese studies, improving the VJU's training quality and opening a semiconductor engineering faculty; and strengthening collaboration with the National Innovation Centre, potentially through the annual organisation of the Japan-Vietnam education festival in October.

He suggested that the Special Advisor promote local cooperation in investment, trade and tourism alongside cultural and people-to-people exchanges, including the Vietnam Festival in Hokkaido and the Hokkaido Festival in Ha Long this year, which are important components of the new bilateral relationship framework. He also highlighted the importance of enhancing workforce training cooperation and improving working and living conditions for Vietnamese apprentices and workers in Japan.

PM Pham Minh Chinh receives Special Advisor to Japan-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance: PM Pham Minh Chinh and Special Advisor to the Japan-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance Takebe Tsutomu at the meeting. (Photo: VNA)

Prime Minister Chinh proposed that Japan consider allocating new-generation Official Development Assistance (ODA) capital to a project on building a rail route from downtown Hanoi to the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park as soon as possible. He explained that such a railway project holds significant importance, including facilitating the development of the VJU, advancing projects within the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) framework and addressing issues related to the Nghi Son oil refinery project.

Takebe, for his part, agreed with the host’s proposals and pledged his continued support for cooperation with Vietnam, especially in areas with promising opportunities as mentioned by the PM.

He also suggested specific measures to bolster bilateral ties, including building an "ecosystem" to support human resources training cooperation, and promoting educational tourism, internship training and labour cooperation.

At present, there are about 520,000 Vietnamese people living, working and studying in Japan, forming the second largest foreign community there and significantly contributing to socio-economic development of both countries.