Delegates from Japan’s Niigata prefecture and Vĩnh Long Province plant a souvenir tree in the precinct of the Vĩnh Long Province People's Committee. — VNA/VNS Photo Phạm Minh Tuấn

VĨNH LONG — The Mekong Delta province of Vĩnh Long hopes to further cooperate with Japan’s Niigata prefecture in various areas, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Lữ Quang Ngời said on Monday when hosting a delegation of the prefecture led by its Governor Hanazumi Hideyo.

At the meeting, Ngời emphasised that last year, Việt Nam and Japan celebrated the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations and upgraded the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World.

On November 24 last year, Vĩnh Long and Niigata signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation, which is an important milestone and an opportunity for the two localities to cooperate more effectively.

In the coming time, Vĩnh Long hopes for more effective collaboration with the Japanese prefecture, especially in expanding the reception of interns and workers from Vĩnh Long province to  improve skills and work in Niigata, human resources training, health care, elderly care, and tourism, he said.

The province is willing to promote trade connections and welcome more Japanese businesses and investors to learn about investment opportunities in Vĩnh Long, he added.

He affirmed that the local authorities vow to create the most favourable conditions for Niigata agencies and businesses to implement more intensive, practical and effective cooperation activities here.

For his part, Governor Hanazumi Hideyo said as climate change has greatly affected agricultural production in Vĩnh Long, Niigata will support the Vietnamese province with climate-resilient rice varieties, towards rice cultivation that reduces methane emissions.

Niigata prefecture will create the best possible environment for Vĩnh Long people to study and work, he said.

At their working session, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vĩnh Long province and Niigata University signed an MoU on cooperation in the agricultural sector, focusing on researching the cultivation of Japanese drought-tolerant rice varieties; methane emission reduction; implementing a two-way rice export project between Vietnam and Japan; and exchanging human resources in the agricultural sector.

Japan is now the largest foreign investor in Vĩnh Long province with 11 projects worth over US$413 million, mostly in food production and processing, warehousing services, goods storage, and production of machines, tools, and small precision machinery components.

Vĩnh Long's exports to Japan last year reached nearly $128 million, accounting for 17 per cent of the province's total export turnover. The figure is forecast to hit about $138 million this year.

Notably, in the 2010-2023 period, Vĩnh Long sent nearly 10,000 workers to work under fixed-term contracts in Japan, accounting for over 76 per cent of the total number of Vĩnh Long guest workers. The figure in the first seven months this year was nearly 850 or nearly 82 per cent. — VNS