President Võ Văn Thưởng (second from right), his wife (third from right), Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko (first from left) and other officials at the “Banh mi Xin chao” restaurant in Tokyo on November 28. VNA/VNS Photo

TOKYO — President Võ Văn Thưởng on November 28 thanked generations of Tokyo leaders for actively supporting the multifaceted cooperation between the capital city of Japan and Vietnamese localities, especially Hà Nội.

The leader, who is paying an official trip to Japan, made the remarks while joining Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko in visiting “Bánh mì Xin chào”, a Vietnamese sandwich restaurant opened by two former students from Việt Nam, on the morning of the same day.

The chain of “Bánh mì Xin chào” restaurants was established in 2016 by Bùi Thanh Duy, 37, and Bùi Thanh Tam, 32, who are brothers from the central province of Quảng Nam. Weathering numerous initial difficulties, they have created many new flavours from the original “bánh mì” of Quảng Nam’s Hội An City. The chain now has 15 restaurants across Japan.

Via “bánh mì”, they hope to help popularise Vietnamese cuisine and culture as well as the enthusiasm and wisdom of young Vietnamese people to locals, contributing to the solidarity and development of the Vietnamese community in Japan and to the cultural and economic ties between the two countries.

At the restaurant imbued with Vietnamese characteristics in Tokyo, President Thưởng, his wife, and Japanese officials tasted typical dishes of Việt Nam such as “bánh mì”, the Quảng noodles, “phở”, coffee, fresh spring rolls, and sweetened porridge.

Appreciating generations of local leaders’ promotion of multifaceted ties between Tokyo and Vietnamese localities, President Thưởng also highly valued their facilitation for Vietnamese enterprises and people to do business and work in the city.

He noted that Việt Nam and Japan share many cultural and culinary similarities which have contributed to the particularly good relations between the two countries and their peoples.

The State leader said he is proud that more and more young people of Việt Nam like the two founders of “Bánh mì Xin chào” have been exerting efforts to grasp development opportunities in Japan. He also considered their efforts as a contribution to the popularisation of the Vietnamese culture here and the enhancement of bonds between the two peoples.

Governor Koike congratulated President Thưởng on his successful talks with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, and on the leaders’ adoption of a joint statement on the elevation of the countries’ relations to a “comprehensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia and the world”.

She described this as a greatly significant moment during the Vietnamese leader’s visit, organised amid the 50th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties with numerous celebrations being held in both countries.

She expressed her belief that the visit will be successful and create a particularly important hallmark in bilateral relations.

The Governor added that Tokyo is deploying a high-tech anti-flooding system, and it is ready to cooperate with Vietnamese cities in this field.

President Thưởng called on Koike to continue creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese people to work, live, and study in Tokyo. He also took this occasion to thank leaders of major Japanese enterprises for investing in Việt Nam, thus substantially helping with the country’s socio-economic development and life quality improvement.

The establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership is an important milestone heralding a new chapter of bilateral relations, he went on.

He also asked the Tokyo Governor to promote the sharing of the city’s anti-fire and anti-flooding experience with Hà Nội and other Vietnamese localities. — VNS