The event had the presence of Mr. Watanabe Michitaro, Mayor of Nasushiobara City, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan; Mr. Shiraishi Hideyuki, representative of the Japanese Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City; Mr. Nguyen Thuc Hien, Vice Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee; Prof. Dr. Ha Thanh Toan, Rector of Can Tho University; Prof. Dr. Vo Tong Xuan, Honorary Rector of Southern Can Tho University.

The event is an opportunity for experts from Japan and Can Tho City to discuss the most effective solutions for strengthening friendship relations and promoting the efficiency of cooperation between the two sides. Japanese enterprises have long recognized Can Tho's development prospects, and those operating in the city assessed that it has young, qualified human resources.  Moreover, Can Tho has sufficient potential and strengths to promote its economic relations with Japan, Mr. Shiraishi Hideyuki emphasized.

Speaking at the seminar, Mr. Nguyen Thuc Hien, Vice Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee, stressed that the similarity in culture has consolidated the friendship between Vietnam and Japan. The two nations have closely cooperated at multilateral forums and mechanisms at both regional and global levels; actively coordinate in regional and international issues of mutual concern, promote economic linkages, and liberalize trade through the signing and implementation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Regarding local relations, Can Tho has established cooperation with Japan’s Hyogo prefecture, Okayama City and Nasushiobara City, he said, adding that the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Association in Can Tho has also been formed.

Local authorities have opened Japan Desk offices in Can Tho, Tokyo, and Osaka to help Japanese investors remove difficulties while investing in Can Tho, and zoned off 30 hectares of land for the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Industrial Park exclusively for Japanese investors.

Vice Chairman Nguyen Thuc Hien said that despite its natural advantages and development potential, Can Tho City remains unattractive in the eyes of Japanese investors. Specifically, Can Tho is only home to six Japanese-invested projects worth 1.35 billion USD. In 2022, Can Tho City's import-export turnover with Japan is US$233 million and in the first four months of 2023, this figure reached US$50 million. Specifically, the city's export value to Japan reached 40.6 million USD in the first four months of this year, with export staples mostly being seafood, apparel, farm produce, steel and steel products, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, feathers, and others, while its import turnover was estimated at 9.8 million USD, with key products being pharmaceutical raw materials, fabrics, leather, machinery, and equipment.

Vice Chairman Nguyen Thuc Hien hoped that the event will serve as a bridge calling on Japanese investors to take part in important projects of the city in the future, affirming the locality’s commitment to coordinate with Japanese investors so that the two sides can achieve harmonized interests.

As one of three localities that signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation with Can Tho, Mr. Watanabe Michitaro, Mayor of Nasushiobara City, Japan highly appreciated the young and abundant human resources in Can Tho City. In order to further increase the competitive advantage in terms of human resources, Vietnamese workers need to build an industrial style and a sense of discipline at work. The Mayor hopes it can pave the way for concrete cooperation between the two cities in the future, adding that they can develop their collaboration in other fields as well.

Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Toshiyuki Ishii, general director of Hau Giang Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company, said that Japanese businesses very much want Vietnamese workers working in Japanese companies to build their working style such as being on time and meeting production standards. In addition, Toshiyuki Ishii wants workers in the Mekong Delta to focus on developing working skills. This is a key factor to be able to meet job requirements in the new era and to master automation and high-tech equipment.

Systems of roads and expressways in the delta region have been greatly improved but a direct flight route from Can Tho to Japan has yet to be made available to facilitate Japanese investors' travel. If Can Tho can offer serviced apartments, this will be an advantage to attract more Japanese investors, Nakamura suggested, adding that the city should have enough Japanese restaurants to serve Japanese investors, especially those who are newcomers, Motoyuki Nakamura, chairman of the board of directors of Tri Viet International Co. Ltd., remarked.

To strengthen cooperation between the Mekong Delta region and Japan in the coming time, experts suggested continuing to create favorable conditions for businesses of the two sides to exchange and explore the demand, advantages, and actual capacity of each side, thereby promoting effective collaboration in the fields of agriculture and tourism, creating a premise for trade and investment cooperation.