Implementing the contents signed between Nghe An and Japanese organizations JICA and JETRO

On the afternoon of March 4, the Provincial People's Committee had a working session with the delegation of the Japan International Cooperation Agency Office in Hanoi (JICA Hanoi) and the Japan External Trade Organization Office in Hanoi (JETRO).

Attending the meeting were Mr. Konaka Tetsuo - Chief Representative of JICA Hanoi; Mr. Nakajima Takeo, Chief Representative of JETRO Hanoi. On the side of Nghe An province, there was Mr. Le Ngoc Hoa - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, representatives of departments, branches and sectors. Photo: Thanh Le

Implement the signed minutes of the three parties

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Konaka Tetsuo - Chief Representative of JICA Hanoi said that the People's Committee of Nghe An province, JICA and JETRO Japan signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation since September 2019.

Accordingly, the three sides promote effective cooperation in three areas: rural agriculture, investment promotion and global human resource development.

To realize the signed memorandum, JICA will continue to implement ODA projects in Nghe An. Currently, JICA has supported Nghe An to implement the Technical Cooperation Project on Planning for the Development of Nghe An Agriculture Sector, which was implemented in 2016 and ended in 2019.

JICA's Chief Representative in Hanoi said that in the coming time, JICA will send expert consultants to develop agricultural value chains in Nghe An for a period of 2 years.

Mr. Konaka Tetsuo - Chief Representative of JICA Hanoi discussed at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Le

In addition, JICA is currently implementing the Project to Restore and Upgrade the Northern Nghe An Irrigation System. This is a key agricultural project that has been highly effective, bringing many benefits to the people. JICA hopes that the project will be implemented on schedule and effectively. The Provincial People's Committee will closely direct the project to be implemented on schedule.

Regarding the field of investment promotion, JICA will introduce public-private partnerships from Japanese enterprises to promote investment in Nghe An. JICA is currently developing a garlic value chain project in Ky Son, Nghe An to increase farmers' income and contribute to poverty reduction; a project to coordinate with the private sector to apply safe organic farming technology to protect the environment.

The third area is related to human resource development cooperation. In 2020, JICA selected a number of training courses in Japan on operating and managing irrigation systems and developing the province's agricultural value chain to transfer science, technology, experience and skills in agricultural development.

Mr. Nakajima Takeo - Chief Representative of JETRO Hanoi said that JETRO will support Nghe An to connect with Japanese enterprises to learn about investment in Nghe An. Photo: Thanh Le

Mr. Nakajima Takeo - Chief Representative of JETRO Hanoi informed that recently many Japanese enterprises are approaching the Vietnamese market. Currently, there are more than 2,000 Japanese enterprises registered to invest and do business in Vietnam.

According to the survey, about 64% of Japanese enterprises surveyed continue to want to invest in Vietnam. In the future, Japanese enterprises investing in Vietnam will increase, especially in the following areas: Food value chain development, through export and import.

To concretize the cooperation agreement signed between the parties, JETRO will facilitate and promote investment and business of Japanese enterprises in Vietnam. At the same time, JETRO will organize investment promotion seminars in Vietnam and Japan. This will be an opportunity for Nghe An and Japanese enterprises to exchange information and explore investment cooperation opportunities.

Continue to promote comprehensive cooperation

In his welcoming speech, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Ngoc Hoa expressed his pleasure to welcome the working delegation of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Office in Vietnam and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Office in Hanoi to visit and work in the locality.

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 JICA and JETRO, the province has been achieving important results in many fields.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Ngoc Hoa spoke at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Le

According to Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Ngoc Hoa, recent surveys show that most Japanese enterprises are optimistic and have plans to expand their investment and business activities in Vietnam. However, the number of Japanese enterprises investing in Nghe An is currently too small compared to the potential of both sides. When mentioning Vietnam, Japanese enterprises only know about Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong...

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Ngoc Hoa presented a souvenir to Mr. Konaka Tetsuo - Chief Representative of JICA Hanoi. Photo: Thanh Le

To concretize the cooperation content between Nghe An and Japan, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested JETRO and JICA to pay attention to helping Nghe An province; hoped that Japanese agencies would continue to support and advise Nghe An province to organize promotion conferences in Japanese provinces to promote potential and attract investment and cooperation from Japanese enterprises.

Currently, Nghe An province is coordinating with Brainworks Asia to develop a plan to organize a Conference to Introduce Nghe An to Japanese enterprises in Tokyo, scheduled for June 2020 with the participation of about 20 typical enterprises of Nghe An and 100 Japanese enterprises.

At the same time, a plan is being developed to organize a working delegation of Nghe An province to go to Japan in 2020 to promote investment, trade and tourism. Therefore, we hope that JETRO and JICA will support the province to successfully organize these programs.

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

Comrade Le Ngoc Hoa expressed his hope that JICA would continue to support Nghe An in tourism development, based on the pilot models of developing local specialties supported by JICA projects that have been successful and contributed positively to socio-economic development.

In the agricultural sector, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee proposed that JICA support 1 to 2 training sessions for agricultural officials to improve their skills in building and managing chains in agricultural production, knowledge of organizing high-tech agricultural production, skills in building and promoting products; and building 1-2 high-tech agricultural production models.

Comrade Le Ngoc Hoa proposed that JICA study and support the investment project to build a Japanese University or Vocational College in Nghe An to train human resources to serve both sides in the coming time; send teachers to support Nghe An in training Japanese at schools...

Nghe An provincial leaders took souvenir photos with JICA and JETRO. Photo: Thanh Le