At the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Van Hong, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Can Tho city, highly appreciates JICA in Vietnam for supporting Can Tho city in many areas. Through cooperation projects between JICA Vietnam and Can Tho city, the bilateral relationship between the two sides has become increasingly closer. In particular, the Government of Vietnam has just approved a major project in Can Tho city, which is the construction of O Mon II thermal power plant invested by Marubeni Group (Japan) with an investment of about 1.3 billion USD.

From 2015 to 2021, there have been 11 volunteers from JICA coming to Can Tho city and working at 7 agencies in the fields of health, sports, tourism promotion, investment promotion, and agriculture. Most of them are highly appreciated for their sense of responsibility and performance. These volunteers have contributed to assisting the city in performing common tasks over the years.

Vice-Chairman Nguyen Van Hong also wishes to promote cooperation with Japanese localities and enterprises through co-organizing conferences and investment promotion seminars. Specifically, in 2017, Can Tho city signed a cooperation agreement with two Japanese provinces namely Hyogo and Okayama in several fields such as agriculture, high-tech industry, logistics, etc.

Besides, the city hopes JICA to conduct the component of purchasing medical equipment for the Can Tho heart hospital with 200 patient beds, equivalent to USD 10 million. On investment promotion, the city calls for non-governmental aid projects in the fields of environmental protection and health care, sports, tourism, education, and training, etc.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hong, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Can Tho city, presented a gift to Mr. Shimizu Akira, Chief Representative of JICA in Vietnam

Mr. Shimizu Akira, Chief Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency in Vietnam (JICA Vietnam), expresses his gratitude towards the warm welcome of Can Tho city’s leaders. He said numerous Japanese firms are interested in Can Tho and want to invest in this city since it is the hub of the Mekong Delta.

Furthermore, Mr. Shimizu Akira added that JICA strives to further promote existing cooperation and diversify fields of collaboration with Can Tho city in the upcoming time.

At the moment, JICA is discussing with management agencies and officials in charge of health on the project providing equipment for the Can Tho heart hospital.