Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Kawasaki Hiroya, President of the Kobe Chamber of Commerce and Industry, emphasized that Vietnam is an attractive destination for Kobe businesses. In recent years, representatives from Kobe have made frequent visits to Vietnam to conduct field surveys and engage in business discussions. He expressed his desire to promote effective and substantive cooperation between Kobe City and VCCI to support Kobe businesses to expand investment in Vietnam.

He also introduced the potential and strengths of Kobe City and invited VCCI Vice President Nguyen Quang Vinh and Vietnamese businesses to attend Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai next April. Themed “Designing the future society for our lives”, this exhibition aims to encourage global cooperation to create a sustainable society, in line with the goals of the United Nations. This event will be the foundation for achieving 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations by 2030 and an opportunity to test the prospect of building a 5.0 society.

He expressed hope that the two parties will enhance cooperation and develop programs to strengthen business connections between Vietnam and Kobe, thereby deepening the strong cooperative relationship between Vietnam and Japan.

VCCI Vice President Nguyen Quang Vinh highly appreciated the role of the Kobe Chamber of Commerce and Industry in fostering business cooperation between Vietnam and Japan. Japan is one of the major investors in Vietnam, he said, adding that VCCI has operated a Japanese business helpdesk since the 1990s.

Vinh emphasized that Vietnamese and Japanese businesses are applying new business models, not only aiming to create jobs and bring economic values but also achieving new environmental values and contributing to the common social prosperity. He also appreciated the speech delivered by President Hiroya and expressed his desire to bolster the two-way cooperation.

To better the future cooperation, the two sides need to build a solid foundation of relations, promote connections to expand the search for more business and investment opportunities for companies in Kobe City and Vietnam, Vinh proposed. He also suggested that the Kobe Chamber of Commerce and Industry pay attention to encouraging Kobe businesses to invest in areas of Vietnam’s concerns like industrial manufacturing, high-tech agriculture, processing, import and export of agricultural products.

Vinh agreed that VCCI will widely inform its members of Expo 2025 and proposed that a Vietnam-Kobe business forum could be held at the event. As Chairman of ASEAN BAC Vietnam, he will also call on ASEAN countries to attend Expo 2025.

The meeting demonstrated the commitment and determination of both sides in building a long-term and sustainable cooperative relationship between Vietnamese and Japanese businesses while opening up many new opportunities for cooperation and development in the future.