Over the past 5 years, the Da Nang branches of the associations for promoting friendships between Viet Nam and Laos, Russia, Japan and other foreign countries have made every effort to strengthen the bilateral friendship and comprehensive cooperation with these countries.

The city’s branch of the Viet Nam-Laos Friendship Association has given top priority to consolidating and deepening the traditional friendship and special solidarity between the two countries.  Importance has been attached to maintaining close ties with staff members of the Laotian Consulate General in Da Nang, along with Laos students who are studying at the city’s universities.  Moreover, exchange activities, friendly get-togethers and meetings have been organised to celebrate the Laotian public holidays such as Laos National Day and its traditional Bun Pi May New Year festival.  Also, the anniversary of the 1962 establishment of Viet Nam-Laos bilateral diplomatic ties, the 1977 signing of the Friendship and Cooperation Treaty between the two countries, along with other bilateral diplomatic events have been celebrated each year.

Representatives from the city’s branch of the Viet Nam-Japan Friendship Association granting scholarships and presenting gifts to some local needy children

Most notable was the implementation of “the Year for Vietnam-Laos Friendship and Solidarity 2012”.  To mark the event, documents on the history of the special relationship between the two nations during the 1930 - 2007 period were advertised to local citizens, whilst a book entitled “Nhu Suoi Nguon Chay Mai” (Like an Ever-flowing Fountainhead) was released in 2012.  In addition, a series of meaningful activities such as meetings and photo exhibitions were also organised successfully in the same year.

In reality, Da Nang has great advantages for boosting multi-faceted cooperation with Russia because the city is a regional economic hub.  Over recent years, the city’s branch of the Viet Nam-Russia Friendship Association has ensured close links with many Russian economic, cultural and educational organisations, and its localities.  Of special note, trade cooperation programmes between Da Nang and Russian localities, including Yaroslavl Province, and the cities of Nizhegorod and Briansk, have been implemented effectively.

Meanwhile, Da Nang-Japan bilateral friendship and cooperation has also been strongly cemented in various aspects including politics, diplomacy, economics, culture, education, science and technology.  Up to now, the city has established bilateral relationships with the Japanese localities of Kawasaki, Sakai, Mitsuke, Nagasaki, Yokohama, Nagoya and Shunan.  Furthermore, special attention is being paid to promote the establishment of bilateral cooperative ties with other Japanese localities such as Kobe, Yaidu, Fukuoka and Ohtawara in the near future. 

Da Nang is now home to 120 Japanese companies and representative offices, with a total investment of 400 million USD, which has created employment for about 40,000 job-seekers.  Furthermore, the Japanese government has ensured its provision of official development assistance (ODA) capital for Da Nang to deploy large-scale projects.  This has facilitated the upgrade of the local infrastructure system for the sake of the city’s socio-economic progress.