During his reception on Friday for Mayor of Daegu Metropolitan City Kwon Young-jin, who visited Da Nang on the occasion of the 15^th founding anniversary of the friendly relationship between the two cities, Chairman of municipal People's Committee Huynh Duc Tho highly appreciated positive results from the comprehensive bilateral cooperation in such aspects as economy, culture, education, healthcare and diplomacy.

Chairman of Da Nang People's Committee Huynh Duc Tho (right) presenting a Certificate of Merit to Mayor Kwon Young-jin

Chairman Tho said he would like Daegu to promote bilateral cooperative ties and experience exchanges with the central Vietnamese city in the aspects of urban management, environment protection, transportation, and security.

In particular, the host affirmed that the local authorities are seeking an appropriate location for the opening of a South Korean consulate general in Da Nang in order to speed up the bilateral ties in the coming time.

In reply, Mayor Kwon Young-jin affirmed his city’s willingness to give more active support to Da Nang in many such aspects as natural disaster mitigation, building a smart city, as well as facilitate delegations of young people from Da Nang to visit his country and participate in many exchange events with South Korean peers next year.

On behalf of the city leaders, Chairman Tho presented Certificates of Merit to Mayor Kwon Young-jin and Ms Park Mi Young, a specialist from Daegu Metropolitan City’s Information Management Division, for their active involvement in strengthening the friendship and cooperation between the 2 cities, and supporting Da Nang’s socio-economic development in recent years

On the same day, Chairman of municipal People’s Council Nguyen Nho Trung played host to a delegation from the Daegu Metropolitan Council, led by its Chairwoman Bae Ji Sook.

The host affirmed Da Nang’s firm stance in lifting the bilateral friendship and cooperation with Daegu to new heights in the future, for the sake of businesses and citizens of the 2 localities.

The Da Nang- Daegu ties was founded in 2003. In April 2004, the Mayor of Daegu Metropolitan City and the Chairman of the Da Nang People's Committee signed an official agreement to establish cooperative relationships between the two cities. Since then, the 2 sides have jointly implemented many cooperation programmes in many aspects.

In August 2018, the 2 sides entered into an agreement to strengthen the bilateral friendship and comprehensive cooperation.

At his meeting on the same day with Chairman Tho, Mr Min Young Sik, the Chairman of South Korea-based HK Plus JSC, affirmed his business’ intention to develop an about 363 million USD apartment complex for experts and engineers working at the Da Nang Hi-tech Park.

HK Plus JSC is now one of the popular Korean multidisciplinary groups actively involved in such aspects as technology, electronics, education, agriculture, real estate, construction, and trade.

Addressing the reception for the South Korean guest, Chairman Tho highly applauded the HK Plus JSC-initiated apartment complex project, and pledged that maximum support policies would be released for the sake of investors in the city’s Hi-tech and concentrated IT parks.

To celebrate the 15^th founding anniversary of the Da Nang- Daegu friendship, a Daegu tourism promotion programme was jointly organised on Friday evening at the Hilton Hotel  by the Korea Tourism Organisation and the Daegu government.

Daegu is the third largest city in South Korea, showing off traditional and modern culture. This city is renowned for many tourist attractions and highly inviting festivals like the Daegu Chimac (Chicken & Beer) Festival. In addition, Gyeongbuk province, the region surrounding Daegu, is a beautiful region which is rich with Korean traditions and charm, especially housing many world heritage sites.

In his welcome speech at the event, Mayor Kwon Young-jin hoped that the ‘Daegu-Gyeongbuk Tourism Year 2020’ event would attract more and more tourists from Da Nang, and Viet Nam at large.

Addressing the event, Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Le Trung Chinh said, in recent years, South Korea has emerged as one of Da Nang’s leading tourist source markets.The Da Nang - Daegu non-stop air service is now operated by 4 airlines, namely T'way Air, Air Busan, Jeju Air and Vietjet with a total of 21 flights per week.

Between January and August, Da Nang welcomed a total of 1.3 million South Korean visitors. The central Vienamese city has organised many tourism promotion activities to attract more holidaymakers from this key market.