Hanoi (VNA) – Officials of Ho Chi MinhCity met with leaders of Japan’s Nagano prefecture on April 10, expressingtheir willingness to step up bilateral cooperation in agriculture, hi-techindustry, vocational training, education and health care.

At the meeting with Nagano Governor Shuichi Abe,Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong said he was veryimpressed with the precision mechanics sector as well as the training qualityand curriculum of universities in Nagano when he visited two businesses in Suwaregion, dubbed “Switzerland of the East”, and two universities.

This Japan trip aims to seek more cooperationopportunities in agriculture, hi-tech industry, vocational training, educationand health care, he said, noting that Nagano is strong at manufacturing,supporting industries and agriculture, which are also the fields that HCM Citywants to promote.

Aside from growing economic, cultural andpeople-to-people exchanges, the Nagano-Vietnam Exchange Association is also animportant contributor to the relations between HCM City and Nagano.

Phong asked for the Governor’s support for theestablishment of the friendship between District 1 of HCM City and Matsumotocity of Nagano.

♍[Ho Chi Minh City seeks stronger partnership with Japanese universities]

Meanwhile, Governor Shuichi Abe expressed hishope that basing on the signed cooperation agreements, the two sides willincrease economic cooperation and cultural exchange activities.

He noted about 2,100 Vietnamese people areworking in his prefecture, calling for more support for manpower exchangebetween the two localities. Nagano also wants to receive more students andlabourers from Vietnam.

As Nagano has potential for agriculture, ithopes to help Vietnam in agricultural development, Abe said, adding that theprefecture wants HCM City to help bring local agricultural products to theVietnamese market.

Meeting with Chairman of the prefecture’s councilKiyoshi Suzuki, Phong said in less than two years since the first visit to HCMCity by the Nagano Governor in October 2016, the city’s leaders have visitedNagano twice, which reflects HCM City’s wish to boost cooperation with theJapanese locality.

Discussing cooperation in human resources, hesaid the quality of manpower has yet to meet his city’s development demand. Hehopes that Nagano prefecture’s council will have cooperation programmes andshare experience with HCM City to ensure the best life quality for people inboth localities.

Also on April 10, the Vietnamese delegationvisited the Global Aqua Innovation Centre of the Shinshu University. ChairmanPhong said HCM City is facing major challenges posed by environmental pollutionand climate change. He asked the Shinshu University and Nagano to help his cityseek solutions to protect the environment and use water resources sustainably,while implementing other cooperation programmes to benefit both sides.-VNA