Attending the ceremony were Mr. Takatoshi Nishiwaki, Governor of Kyoto Prefecture, Mr. Yakabe Yoshinori - Consul General of Japan in Da Nang city. On the sides of Thua Thien Hue province were Mr. Nguyen Van Phuong, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, along with representatives of related departments and agencies.

 Chairman Nguyen Van Phuong speaking at the official meeting

Addressing the meeting, Chairman Nguyen Van Phuong highly appreciated achievements in the cooperation between Japan and Thua Thien Hue, especially the relations between Kyoto Prefecture and Thua Thien Hue province. Furthermore, he also affirmed that this is a significant meeting, marking the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the cooperation between Thua Thien Hue province and Kyoto with practical and effective achievements.

As for Kyoto Prefecture, the two sides have regularly organized exchanging trips, as well as implemented cooperation activities in the development of tourism and education, etc. The two sides also successfully held the project “Developing Tourist Attractions between Kyoto Prefecture and Thua Thien Hue – Human Resources Development for Tourism Promotion through Public – Private Partnership”. The authorities of Kyoto Prefecture have also coordinated with the Education and Training Sector, high schools, and Hue University to speed up attracting Thua Thien Hue students to study at educational institutions in Kyoto in the coming time.

“We do believe that the re-signing of the MOU between Thua Thien Hue province and Kyoto Prefecture today will be a crucial foundation to affirm the desire of building a long-standing cooperation between Thua Thien Hue province and Kyoto Prefecture in the fields of tourism, heritage preservation, education and training, investment, tourism, and trading for win-win prosperity and development”, affirmed Chairman Nguyen Van Phuong.

 Mr. Takatoshi Nishiwaki, Governor of Kyoto Prefecture speaking at the official meeting

Mr. Takatoshi Nishiwaki, Governor of Kyoto Prefecture also highly appreciated the working session between the two sides and shared the losses and damages that Thua Thien Hue’s government and people have suffered during the recent flood. At the same time, he committed to promote activities as a bridge to support Thua Thien Hue. He expressed his hope that the province would make an official visit to Kyoto Prefecture, providing both sides with much more time for in-depth discussions on trade, tourism, education and training. The Governor also desired that this could establish a friendly and enduring cooperative relationship, mutually supporting each other for collaborative development, further enhancing the special friendship and cooperation between the two localities.

It’s known that Thua Thien Hue Provincial People’s Committee and the Authorities of Kyoto Prefecture signed a “Join Statement on the Establishment of Friendly Cooperative Relationships” on November 22, 2013 and “The Agreement on the Establishment of Friendly Cooperative Relationships” on March 19, 2014. The two sides re-affirmed their determinations to strengthen cooperative and friendly relationships to bring mutual benefits and head towards the goals of implementing cooperative programs in the future, based on the Statement for the purpose of enhancing cooperation in the fields of education, cultural heritage preservation, tourism, and economic cooperation.

 The two sides signing the MOU

Under the MOU, the two localities will coordinate in communication efforts to promote study abroad to Kyoto and Thua Thien Hue. Furthermore, there will be an emphasis on enhancing exchanging activities, including online formats between students in the two localities, as well as enhancing exchanging through partnership activities between universities and businesses, etc.

In the framework of the cooperation between Thua Thien Hue province and Kyoto universities, the two sides also implement human resources training programs to contribute to the work of tourism development and cultural heritage preservation in Hue. Furthermore, they also support the organization of international exchanges and friendly activities, encouraging active participation by the people to the programs to keep on developing the cooperation between the people of the two regions.

At the same time, the two sides are to carry out cooperative activities in the fields of promoting investment, trade, local promotion utilizing digital communication platforms, etc.

By Thai Binh