At the meeting, Ngoi emphasised that in 2023, Vietnam and Japan celebrated the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations and upgraded the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World. On November 24, 2023, Vinh Long and Niigata signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation, which is an important milestone and an opportunity for the two localities to cooperate more effectively.
In the coming time, Vinh Long hopes for more effective collaboration with the Japanese prefecture, especially in expanding the reception of interns and workers from Vinh Long province to improve skills and work in Niigata, human resources training, health care, elderly care, and tourism, he said.
The province is willing to promote trade connections and welcome more Japanese businesses and investors to learn about investment opportunities in Vinh Long, he added.
He affirmed that the local authorities vow to create the most favourable conditions for Niigata agencies and businesses to implement more intensive, practical and effective cooperation activities here.
For his part, Governor Hanazumi Hideyo said as climate change has greatly affected agricultural production in Vinh Long, Niigata will support the Vietnamese province with climate-resilient rice varieties, towards rice cultivation that reduces methane emissions. Niigata prefecture will create the best possible environment for Vinh Long people to study and work, he said.
At their working session, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vinh Long province and Niigata University signed an MoU on cooperation in the agricultural sector, focusing on researching the cultivation of Japanese drought-tolerant rice varieties; methane emission reduction; implementing a two-way rice export project between Vietnam and Japan; and exchanging human resources in the agricultural sector.
Japan is now the largest foreign investor in Vinh Long province with 11 projects worth over 413 million USD, mostly in food production and processing, warehousing services, goods storage, and production of machines, tools, and small precision machinery components.
Vinh Long's exports to Japan in 2023 reached nearly 128 million USD, accounting for 17% of the province's total export turnover. The figure is forecast to hit about 138 million USD in 2024.
Notably, in the 2010-2023 period, Vinh Long sent nearly 10,000 workers to work under fixed-term contracts in Japan, accounting for over 76% of the total number of Vinh Long guest workers. The figure in the first seven months of 2024 was nearly 850 or nearly 82%.
