Nghe An signed a memorandum of cooperation with JICA Vietnam and JETRO Hanoi

On the afternoon of September 5, a delegation from the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Office in Vietnam, the Japan External Trade Organization Office in Hanoi (JETRO Hanoi), and the People's Committee of Nghe An province held a signing ceremony of a memorandum of cooperation between the People's Committee of Nghe An province, JICA Vietnam and JETRO Hanoi.Photo: My Nga

Attending the ceremony were Mr. Kohei Yamamoto - Second Secretary of the Embassy of Japan; Mr. Tetsuo Konaka - Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Office; Mr. Hironobu Kitagawa - Chief Representative of JETRO Hanoi; and representatives of Japanese enterprises.

On the side of Nghe An province, there were comrades: Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation; Thai Thanh Quy - Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, C.Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Le Ngoc Hoa - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; representatives of leaders of provincial departments, branches and sectors.

Japan - Nghe An's leading strategic partner

In his welcoming speech, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy expressed his pleasure to welcome the delegation of the Embassy of Japan, the Office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency in Vietnam (JICA) and the Office of the Japan External Trade Organization in Hanoi (JETRO) to visit, work and sign a Memorandum of Cooperation with the People's Committee of Nghe An province.

Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh highly appreciated JICA's support and assistance to Nghe An province. Photo: My Nga

Over the years, Nghe An province has always considered Japan as one of the top important partners for cooperation and development, and at the same time determined that Japan will be a key partner for cooperation in the province's international integration strategy.

Reality has proven that the cooperation activities between Nghe An and Japan, with the support of the Japanese Embassy, ​​JICA and JETRO, the province has achieved important results in many fields.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy affirmed that Japan is the leading strategic partner of Nghe An province. Photo: My Nga

“It can be said that JICA's activities in Nghe An are one of the vivid and profound manifestations of the strategic partnership between the two countries in recent times,” affirmed Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy.

In the coming time, in the orientation of socio-economic development of the province, Nghe An continues to consider attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), mobilizing ODA capital, agricultural cooperation, tourism, labor - vocational training with Japan as resources playing an important role in the socio-economic development of the province.

Comrade Thai Thanh Quy expressed his hope that the visit and work of the Embassy representatives, the Chief Representative of JICA, JETRO and Japanese enterprises will be a milestone for more successful cooperation between the parties in the coming time. In particular, JETRO will be a bridge to help Nghe An get closer to Japanese enterprises.

Mr. Tetsuo Konaka - Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Office hopes that through the signing ceremony, JICA and JETRO will be a bridge to help Nghe An get closer to Japanese enterprises. Photo: My Nga

The Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee proposed that cooperation projects to promote human resources, in addition to the fields of agriculture and rural development that the two sides have implemented very well in the past, should be expanded to other fields such as education - training, health care, etc.

Up to now, Japan has funded Nghe An with 44 ODA aid programs and projects, with a total capital of more than 5,000 billion VND (equivalent to 217.5 million USD).

Regarding FDI investment, the province currently has 8 Japanese investment projects with a total capital of 92 million USD. Nghe An is one of the localities with a large number of citizens working in Japan with about 3,000 - 4,000 workers/year. There are currently 10,898 Nghe An workers in Japan, accounting for 3.43% of the total number of Vietnamese workers working in Japan.

Signing of 3-party cooperation

Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Office Tetsuo Konaka informed that there are currently more than 1,000 Japanese enterprises investing in Vietnam. However, the number of Japanese enterprises investing in Nghe An is still too small compared to the potential of both sides. When mentioning Vietnam, Japanese enterprises only know about Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong,...

"Therefore, I hope that through this signing ceremony, JICA and JETRO will be the bridge to help Nghe An get closer to Japanese enterprises. So that in the near future, when mentioning Nghe An, Japanese enterprises will immediately think of this as an attractive investment destination that enterprises cannot ignore," said Mr. Tetsuo Konaka.

Japanese agencies and enterprises survey VSIP Nghe An Industrial Park in Hung Nguyen. Photo: Thanh Le

The representative of JICA Vietnam emphasized that Nghe An is the first locality where JICA and JETRO signed a 3-party agreement and hoped that business representatives from Japanese provinces present at the signing ceremony would become a group of "supporters" for Nghe An, connecting Nghe An with Japanese businesses, and at the same time opening up opportunities to promote cooperation between localities.

In his concluding remarks, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh said that in recent years, despite many difficulties and challenges, Nghe An has achieved positive and encouraging results in socio-economic development.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy and representatives of JICA Vietnam and JETRO Hanoi signed a cooperation memorandum. Photo: My Nga

The government and people of Nghe An are well aware that the achievements have been made possible by the great help and contributions of international friends and partners, of which Japan is a leading friend and important partner.

“We appreciate the support of the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam, JICA, JETRO, and the Japanese business community that has been and will be accompanying Nghe An province for the socio-economic development of Nghe An province,” the Provincial Party Secretary affirmed.

The continued commitment of JICA and JETRO to support Nghe An in promoting investment, developing agriculture and rural areas, and developing human resources has demonstrated the special interest of the Japanese Government in the Vietnam-Japan Strategic Partnership. At the same time, it demonstrates Japan's trust and appreciation in the management capacity and strong development potential of Nghe An province.

The signing of the 3-party agreement between Nghe An - JICA Vietnam - JETRO Hanoi is expected to open up many new cooperation opportunities between Nghe An and Japan. Photo: My Nga

Emphasizing the event of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee, JICA and JETRO signing the Memorandum of Cooperation, the Provincial Party Secretary said that this is a milestone marking a new stage in the cooperative relationship between Nghe An and Japan.

“Nghe An province commits to assigning clear responsibilities to each provincial leader, leaders of departments, branches, sectors and localities to fully and seriously implement specific programs and projects to implement the Memorandum of Cooperation. Nghe An province will continue to accompany and be a reliable, long-term and sustainable partner of JICA and JETRO to effectively carry out cooperation activities on the basis of mutual benefit,” the Provincial Party Secretary affirmed.

Nghe An Provincial People's Committee, JICA Vietnam and JETRO Hanoi signed a feasible and effective cooperation agreement for the future development of Nghe An province in the following areas:

1- Agricultural and rural development.

2- Investment promotion.

3- Human resource development.

4- Areas of agreement between the participating parties.