According to the Government Electronic Information Portal, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended and spoke at the Forum.
The Vietnam - Japan Local Cooperation Forum is the first large-scale event on promoting local cooperation between the two countries, concretizing the agreement between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and former Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru in April 2025, with the participation of representatives of 50 localities and hundreds of businesses of the two countries.
Before the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Mr. Takebe Tsutomu - Special Advisor of the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians' Union and Mr. Yamamoto Ichita - Governor of Gunma Province, Japan.
At the reception of the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians' Association Special Advisor, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highly appreciated and thanked Mr. Takebe for his contributions and enthusiasm in promoting the Vietnam-Japan friendship and cooperation, especially in the fields of cultural exchange, people-to-people exchange, local cooperation, as well as in education and human resource training cooperation with the Vietnam-Japan University construction project over the years.
In the coming time, the Prime Minister suggested that Mr. Takebe, with many years of experience, continue to pay attention to and contribute to concretizing the content of the Vietnam - Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with specific projects and programs; continue to have a voice to support and strengthen the Vietnam - Japan relationship and Vietnam's role towards Japan.
Along with that, further promote and enhance local cooperation between Japan and Quang Ninh province and localities of Vietnam in the fields of agriculture, investment, education, culture, tourism; continue to organize festivals and events to promote culture, people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, connect educational institutions of the two countries; have favorable policies for the Vietnamese community, support Vietnamese workers and students to integrate, study, and work in Japan.
The Prime Minister suggested that Mr. Takebe promote training content at Vietnam-Japan University, especially the content of semiconductors and AI to make the school a typical, exemplary school, a training institution for high-quality and prestigious human resources in Vietnam at many levels of training to train human resources for Vietnam as well as the whole Southeast Asian region; as well as promote the conversion of the Department of Japanese at Ha Long University into a Vietnam - Japan cultural center.
Speaking at the reception with Mr. Yamamoto Ichita - Governor of Gunma Province, Japan, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh believes that the Forum will be a great success, creating momentum for the development of the Vietnam - Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that is progressing well, especially in the field of local cooperation, in the spirit of sincerity, affection, trust and efficiency.
Wishing the Vietnam - Japan friendship to continue to develop and bear fruit, the Prime Minister hopes that the Governor and the Gunma Provincial delegation will actively participate, proactively discuss and propose specific cooperation initiatives/projects with partners, especially in areas where Gunma province has strengths, and strengthen cooperation with Vietnamese localities, including Quang Ninh province.
The Prime Minister also suggested encouraging and promoting Gunma province's businesses to expand investment in Vietnam in conjunction with technology transfer and high-quality human resource training, especially in areas where Vietnam has demand such as innovation, science and technology, digital transformation, green transformation, semiconductors, etc.; continue to promote cultural exchange, people-to-people exchange, tourism cooperation with Quang Ninh and other localities; pay attention, create favorable conditions and continue to have many practical support policies for the Vietnamese community living, studying and working in the province.
For his part, the Governor of Gunma province expressed his honor to meet the Prime Minister; expressed his sympathy for the damage to localities in the recent natural disasters.
He said that many Gunma businesses are expanding their investment in Vietnam; hoping that the Vietnamese side will continue to support to have more provincial businesses operating in Vietnam.
Appreciating the organization of the Forum - an important event, I respectfully thank the Prime Minister for his great attention to promoting local cooperation between the two countries. The Governor said that the province wants to strengthen cooperation with Vietnamese localities, seek more cooperation opportunities with Vietnam as directed by the Prime Minister.
