A Viet Nam - Japan cultural exchange took place in the southern province of Ba Ria - Vung Tau on December 19, gathering Vietnamese and Japanese officials as well as 200 students in the province.
The event featured a musical concert with performances by students of the Vung Tau Tourism Vocational College and a dancing troupe from the Ho Chi Minh City chapter of the Viet Nam - Japan Friendship Association.
An area of stalls, displaying Vietnamese calligraphy, Japanese dolls as well as specialties of both countries, also opened for participants of the exchange.
Addressing the event, Nguyen Thi Yen, standing Vice Secretary of the municipal Party Committee, acknowledged the two nations’ thriving cooperation after 43 years since the establishment of bilateral ties.
Acting Japanese Consul General in HCM City Yakabe Yoshinori thanked the provincial authorities’ support toward Japanese people and businessmen living in the locality.
He stated the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will continue sending language experts to Ba Ria - Vung Tau and inviting local officials to attend training courses in Japan.
He expected there will be more trade and and cultural exchanges between Viet Nam and Japan to be held in the future.
Japan is now Viet Nam’s top provider of official development assistance. The two countries are working to design a strategy for industrialisation in Viet Nam in line with their cooperation framework by 2020.
As of November 2016, Japan invested more than 2.3 billion USD in 26 projects in Ba Ria - Vung Tau, focusing on the production of steel, plastic, and industrial gases, ore processing as well as sea port services.