As part of their ongoing working trip to Japan from March 26 - April 1, a group of Da Nang officials led by Municipal Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang paid working visits to Yokohama City and Kanagawa Prefecture on Monday morning.

Da Nang Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Van Quang (right) presents a memento to the Governor of Kanagawa.

During his meeting with Da Nang visitors, Yokohama City Deputy Mayor Shiro Hirotoshi remarked that in 2013, Da Nang and Yokohama signed a memorandum of understanding on technical cooperation to realize Da Nang’s goal of making the city sustainable.

Accordingly, the two sides have cooperated in urban planning and environmental management as Da Nang is striving to become environmentally friendly. The leader  of Yokohama City hoped for further cooperation in caring for older adults, healthcare and more aspects. At the same time, he hoped to further strengthen bilateral relations between the two cities in the coming time.

On behalf of the Da Nang delegation, Mr Nguyen Van Quang thanked the leader  of Yokohama City for the warm welcome and wonderful hospitality Da Nang visitors received. The Da Nang top leader expressed his delight at good cooperative relationship between the two localities, as well as the rapid development of Yokohama to develop it into a green city.

Mr Nguyen Van Quang (right) presents a memento to Yokohama City Deputy Mayor Shiro Hirotoshi

In particular, there are also many similarities that the two cities share. Da Nang and Yokohama City all have the same goal of building the green economy and becoming environmentally friendly as they have a high potential to promote their forested landscape. Mr Nguyen Van Quang remarked that 2023 marked the 10^th anniversary of of the establishment of bilateral cooperation between Da Nang and Yokohama.

During forums on urban development and bilateral cooperation, the two cities focused on such their major aspects of concern as urban planning and management, environmental management and wastewater treatment. Da Nang is targeting to deliver quality health services in Central Viet Nam and Central Highlands, so high priority should be given to enhancing exchanges of human resources in healthcare, construction and management of seaport infrastructure. The Da Nang Party Chief hoped that the two cities will deepen their bilateral cooperation in the future.

Da Nang officials take a souvenir photo with the leaders of Yokohama City.

During his visiting to Yokohama Port, Mr Nguyen Van Quang expressed his deep impression on this port, and said that Da Nang needs to share experiences with  Yokohama in order to help it develop the Lien Chieu Port Project effectively. He also hoped that Yokohama would encourage more Japanese investors to survey and cooperate in building Lien Chieu Port. Mr Quang remarked that 2023 is also marked the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and Japan. The Da Nang top leader hoped for further cooperation and deepened ties between the two cities, and the two countries as a whole.

During his meeting with Mr Kuroiwa Yuji, the Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, Mr Nguyen Van Quang recalled good impression of Mr. Kuroiwa Yuji when he visited Da Nang in November 2022. He also thanked the Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture for his thoughtful reception given to Da Nang visitors. In addition, he expressed his delight at the fruitful results from the cooperative programmes with Kanagawa Prefecture, especially in healthcare sector, after the business trip of Mr. Kuroiwa Yuji  to Da Nang in 2022.

The Da Nang delegation takes a souvenir photo with the leaders of Kanagawa Prefecture.

Mr Quang hoped that Mr. Kuroiwa Yuji would continue promoting economic cooperation between the two localities and he also agreed with the Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture that it is necessary to deepen the cooperative relationship between Da Nang and Kanagawa , and Viet Nam and Japan at large.

Mr Quang expressed his desire to boost bilateral cooperation in training human resources, sharing experiences, developing quality healthcare services. Special attention should be paid to creating the most favorable conditions for businesses in the two localities to seek opportunities for cooperation and investment promotion with their partners. The intention is to effectively implement the Politburo’s Resolution No. 43 dated January 24, 2019 on promoting the development of Da Nang to 2030, with a vision to 2045, the Politburo’s Resolution No. 26 dated November 3, 2022 on socio-economic development, ensuring national defense and security in the North Central Coast and Central Coast region to 2030, with a vision to 2045 as Da Nang is identified as the health hub in Central Viet Nam and Central Highlands.

As for cultural cooperation, Mr Quang said that Da Nang would organize the Viet Nam - Japan Cultural Week in July 2023, and emphasized that the city would fully support and work closely with Kanagawa to successfully organize the Da Nang - Kanagawa Cultural Week in November 2023.

On this occasion, Mr Quang invited Mr. Kuroiwa Yuji and representatives of art associations and art troupes from Kanagawa to visit Da Nang and participate in the festival.

Reporting by GIA MINH – Translating by H.L