Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (right) had talks on Tuesday with Governor of Kanagawa prefecture Kuroiwa Yuji as he visited Japan for the enthronement ceremony of the Japanese emperor. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

TOKYO — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc met Governor of Kanagawa prefecture Kuroiwa Yuji on Tuesday during his trip to Japan to attend the enthronement ceremony of the Japanese Emperor Naruhito.

The PM took the occasion to extend his sympathy to people in areas affected by Typhoon Hagibis.

He praised efforts made by the governor and the Kanagawa administration to promote ties between the prefecture and Viet Nam, such as the annual Việt Nam Festival in Kanagawa and Kanagawa Festival in Ha Noi.

The Vietnamese government leader highlighted the big population and potential of Kanagawa and said Viet Nam hoped to boost ties with Japan and Kanagawa prefecture.

He asked Governor Kuroiwa and Kanagawa authorities to encourage enterprises in the prefecture to bolster investment and business in Việt Nam, foster cultural exchanges and tourism co-operation with Việt Nam, and receive more apprentices and workers from Việt Nam.

The governor informed PM Phúc about co-operation between Kanagawa and Việt Nam including the plan to hold the second Kanagawa Festival in Hà Nội in November this year.

He said enterprises in the prefecture are interested in investment opportunities in Việt Nam and wish to receive more Vietnamese labourers.

The same day, in a meeting with President and CEO of Nikkei newspaper Okada Naotoshi, PM Phúc hailed the newspaper’s organisation of the annual international conference on 'The Future of Asia', which has become a prestigious event attracting many leaders of Asian countries.

He suggested that Nikkei regularly update Japanese readers on the economic development in Việt Nam and the efforts of the Vietnamese Government to improve the business and investment environment, contributing to promoting the Việt Nam-Japan economic partnership.

Okada thanked the Vietnamese Government for regularly sending high-ranking representatives to the conference, with PM Phúc himself attending in 2017, and proposing solutions to global and Asian issues, which he said contributed a great deal to the success of the conference.

He expressed his hope that Việt Nam’s leaders will attend the event in 2020, the year Việt Nam’s serves as Chair of ASEAN and a non-permanent member on the UN Security Council.       

He informed the Vietnamese PM about the Japanese business community’s great interest in economic co-operation with Việt Nam and said Nikkei wished to further contribute to the bilateral relationship between Việt Nam and Japan. — VNS