On Monday, many seminars and forums on promoting economic, labour and tourism cooperation between Viet Nam and Japan took place in Da Nang.

Municipal People’s Committee Chairman Tho (right) held a reception on Monday for Governor of Shiga Prefecture Taizo Mikazuki

These events were held during the ongoing visit of Mr Toshihiro Nikai, Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan cum Chairman of the Japan-Viet Nam Friendship Parliamentary Alliance, along with over 1,000 delegates who are parliamentarians, provincial leaders, representatives of ministries, economic organisations and businesses in Japan, to Viet Nam.

In his remarks at the Viet Nam-Japan Leadership Conference, Da Nang People’s Committee Chairman Huynh Duc Tho introduced his Japanese guests to investment opportunities in his city.

He added, over the years, his city has signed Memoranda of Understanding to establish official bilateral ties with Kawasaki, Sakai, Yokohama, and Kisarazu. Also, the city has implemented the cooperative programmes with more than 20 Japanese localities.

Chairman Tho took the opportunity to invite Japanese investors to pour money into Hi-Tech Park, the Dedicated Information Technology Park, and seaports in Da Nang.

He also hoped that the bilateral cooperative relations with Japan in such aspects as support industry, urban management, tourism, education, healthcare, human resource training, and people-to-people exchange, would be fostered in the coming time.

According to Mr Takeo Nakajima, Head of a representative office of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in Ha Noi, the majority of Japanese investors in Da Nang have put money into processing goods for exports, tourism and IT. Such Japanese –invested firms based in Da Nang as Foster Denki, Mabuchi Motor, Fujikura, Daiwa, Tokyo Keiki and Mikazuki are typical examples.

In his remarks at a seminar on promoting investment, trade and human resource cooperation between Viet Nam - Japan, municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh said, Da Nang is now home to 813 FDI projects with total registered investment capital of US$ 3.47 billion.

He added Japan is currently the top foreign investor in Da Nang with 200 projects totalling around US$900 million, which have together created nearly 20,000employment opportunities in manufacturing, services, real estates, IT, and education for job seekers from Da Nang and its neighbouring localities.

Vice Chairman Minh noted his city has already set up a Japan Desk to offer consultation services in Japanese language for Japanese investors.

Japanese air passengers on the first flight departing from the Tokyo International Airport, commonly known as Haneda Airport, were welcomed at Da Nang International Airport

During his speech at the Viet Nam-Japan tourism promotion semimar, municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Le Trung Chinh affirmed Japan was one of important strategic partners of Da Nang, and Viet Nam as a whole.

Mr Minh remarked that Japan was listed in the city’s top 5 largest international tourist markets. In 2019 alone, Da Nang welcomed more than 190,000 Japanese visitors, an increase of 15.8% against 2018.

“This year, the city will continue organising its tourism promotion programmes in Japan, promoting the opening of new non-stop air routes to Japanese localities, and advertising high-quality beach holiday and community-based eco-tourism to Japanese citizens”, Mr Chinh emphasised.

Also on Monday, as many as 30 representatives of travel agencies from Japan  and Da Nang attended a workshop on Da Nang’s tourism development strategies.

During the event, Vice Chairman Chinh remarked, last year, numerous tourism promotion programmes were successfully organised in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka in a bid to advertise the city’s images to Japanese citizens.

Besides, the focus was on welcoming a large number of famtrip delegations from travel and media agencies in Japan to conduct surveys about the city's tourism products, and training Japanese language for tour guides serving visitors from Japan.

Last year, the city was honoured with many world tourism awards. In particular, Da Nang was ranked 15^th in the world’s famous 52 Places list for 2019 by The New York Times. Also, the city was honoured with the Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organisation (ASOCIO) Smart City Award 2019 at the ASOCIO International Smart City Summit 2019.

Mr Satoru Takizawa, the General Director of Daiwa Viet Nam Co., Ltd, based in the Hoa Khanh IP cum Chairman of the Japanese Business Association in Da Nang, remarked, Da Nang boasted abundant and highly skilled labour force, and many of them have proficiency in English.

“I hope that, in the near future, Da Nang will pay more attention to resolving environmental pollution hotspots, and ensuring sufficient labour forces, especially skilled workers, in order to get the city ready to welcome foreign investment” Mr Satoru Takizawa noted.

Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung highlighted the important role of Japanese investors in promoting the country’s socio-economic development.

He vowed that Viet Nam would create very favourable conditions for Japanese businesses to operate effectively in the country.

By KHANG NINH, KHANH HOA, THU HA - Translated by MAI DUNG