Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc received Governor of Kanagawa prefecture Kuroiwa Yuji on October 22 during his trip to Japan to attend the enthronement ceremony of the Japanese emperor.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (right) and Governor of
Kanagawa prefecture Kuroiwa Yuji (Photo: VNA) 

The PM took the occasion to extend his sympathy to people in areas affected by Typhoon Hagibis.

He praised the efforts made by the governor and Kanagawa administration to promote cooperation between the prefecture and Vietnam through result-oriented initiatives and activities, such as the Vietnam Festival in Kanagawa and Kanagawa Festival in Hanoi, which have become leading cultural exchange events held annually in the two countries.

The Vietnamese government leader highlighted the big population and potential of Kanagawa, and affirmed that Vietnam always hopes to increase ties with Japan in general and Kanagawa prefecture in particular.

He asked Governor Kuroiwa and Kanagawa authority to encourage enterprises in the prefecture to bolster investment and business activities in Vietnam, foster cultural exchanges and tourism cooperation with Vietnam, and receive more apprentices and workers from Vietnam.

The governor informed PM Phuc about the cooperation between Kanagawa and Vietnam including the plan on organizing the second Kanagawa Festival in Hanoi in November this year.

He said enterprises in the prefecture are interested in investment opportunities in Vietnam, and wish to receive more Vietnamese labourers in the time to come.

The same day, in his meeting with President and CEO of Nikkei newspaper Okada Naotoshi, PM Phuc hailed the newspaper’s organisation of the annual international conference on The Future of Asia, which has become a prestigious event attracting the participation of many leaders of Asian countries.

He suggested that Nikkei regularly updates Japanese readers on the economic development in Vietnam and the efforts of the Vietnamese government in improving the business and investment environment, thus contributing to promoting Vietnam-Japan economic partnership.

Okada thanked the Vietnamese government for regularly sending high-ranking representatives to the conference The Future of Asia, with PM Phuc himself attending in 2017, and actively proposing solutions to global and Asian issues, which he said contributed greatly to the success of the conference.

He expressed his hope that Vietnam’s leaders will attend the event in 2020, the year Vietnam serves as Chair of ASEAN and a non-permanent member on the UN Security Council.        

He informed the Vietnamese PM about the Japanese business community’s great interest in economic cooperation with Vietnam and affirmed that Nikkei wishes to further contribute to the bilateral relationship between Vietnam and Japan.