The Head of the Da Nang People’s Council’s Cultural and Social Board, Mr Pham Tan Xu, recently played host to a parliamentary delegation from Japan’s Kawasaki City, led by a parliamentarian of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, Mr Sakamoto Shigeru.

Parliamentarian Sakamoto Shigeru (left) and Mr Xu

Mr Xu proudly stated, “To date, 128 Japanese businesses and representative offices are operating in Da Nang, with their investments totalling around 500 million USD.  Together they have created 40,000 jobs for local residents”.

He continued, “Between December 2003 and October 2016, the Japan-Viet Nam Friendship Association of Kawasaki City donated a total of over 11,953 bicycles to poor children in Da Nang and Quang Nam Province”.

He remarked that numerous industrial, cultural and tourism bilateral cooperation projects with Japan would be implemented in the city soon.  Included are the 1.2ha Viet Nam-Japan friendship cultural park in Ngu Hanh Son District, a specialised industrial park for Japanese businesses, and a Japanese-standard hi-end holiday resort for the elderly.

Mr Xu hoped that the visiting guests would appeal for more Japanese businesses to invest in the city in the years ahead.

Mr Sakamoto Shigeru highlighted the fruitful results from the bilateral cooperation between the ports of Da Nang and Kawasaki, especially after the MoU on economic cooperation was signed in 2007.

The Japanese parliamentarian noted, “Over recent years, Da Nang Port has sent its employees to Kawasaki to learn more about local sea port operations, whilst young people and school pupils from Kawasaki City have visited Da Nang to participate in exchange programmes with the city”.

The visiting guest hoped that a direct maritime transport route between the Da Nang and Kawasaki ports would be created soon.  He pledged to appeal for more businesses from his country to invest in Da Nang, and he hoped that bilateral cooperation in such aspects as sea port operations, culture and tourism would be strengthened in the near future.