The event was co-chaired by Le Tri Thanh, Deputy Secretary of the Hue City Party Committee and Chairman of the Hue People’s Committee, and Pham Quang Hieu, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Viet Nam to Japan.
The conference was attended by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Anh Tuan, Japanese Consul General in Da Nang Mori Takero, and representatives from JICA, JETRO, the Japanese Business Association in Viet Nam, as well as local authorities, businesses, universities and healthcare institutions from both countries.
The strong turnout of organisations, businesses and local authorities demonstrated the growing appeal and potential for cooperation between Hue and Japan. Notably, rather than merely presenting their respective potential, participants focused on discussing specific needs, capabilities and areas of potential cooperation, gradually turning connections into programmes and projects.
Addressing the conference, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Anh Tuan underscored the role of local-level connectivity in Viet Nam-Japan relations.
The Deputy Minister called on both sides to focus on four groups of areas: science and technology, innovation and digital transformation; healthcare and development of healthcare human resources; preservation and promotion of heritage values in association with sustainable development; and the economy, trade and investment.
These priorities are also aligned with Hue’s development strategy. Chairman of the Hue People’s Committee Le Tri Thanh affirmed: “Japan is one of Hue’s important partners. Years of cooperation have been established in areas including ODA, environmental protection, disaster prevention and mitigation, heritage conservation, education, healthcare, transport, tourism and cultural exchanges.”
According to Le Tri Thanh, this foundation is creating conditions for Hue to enter a new phase of cooperation, focusing not only on attracting investment capital but also on connecting knowledge, technology, human resources and management expertise. The city is prioritising modern and clean-technology projects with high added value, the capacity to participate in production and supply chains, and the potential to create jobs.
The conference also saw a number of practical proposals put forward, including introducing Hue’s speciality products through the AEON Mall network; promoting connections between businesses and economic and industrial zones; expanding Japanese-language training; promoting Hue cuisine in Japan to develop culinary tourism; and studying mechanisms for two-way charter flights between Hue and Japan.
These proposals show that cooperation is increasingly being driven by the need for concrete outcomes, rather than stopping at information exchanges. Hue authorities and agencies will continue to review feasible proposals with a view to developing cooperation programmes, plans and projects, particularly in human-resource training, technology transfer, education and healthcare.
Earlier, on September 5, a series of high-level meetings opened up further important avenues for cooperation. During a meeting with Japanese Ambassador to Viet Nam ITO Naoki, Nguyen Dinh Trung, Secretary of the Hue City Party Committee, said that Hue had established cooperative relations with four Japanese localities: Kyoto Prefecture, Gifu Prefecture, Nara Prefecture and Shizuoka City.
Secretary Nguyen Dinh Trung asked the Ambassador and Japanese Consul General to continue serving as bridges for Hue to expand relations with Japanese local authorities, organisations, groups and businesses, while stepping up efforts to promote Hue’s image, culture and people in Japan.
The Japanese side expressed its desire to become more deeply involved in human-resource training and the development of a new generation of professionals in the preservation and promotion of Hue’s heritage and traditional cultural values. This represents a more substantive avenue for cooperation, linking heritage values with human-resource development and the transmission of cultural values across generations.
