A Ho Chi Minh City delegation has promised to provide more favorable conditions and investment opportunities for Japanese businesses during a meeting with leaders from Japan’s Hyogo Prefecture.

A Ho Chi Minh City delegation has promised to provide more favorable conditions and investment opportunities for Japanese businesses during a meeting with leaders from Japan’s Hyogo Prefecture.

A working session carried out in Kobe City, Hyogo on Wednesday afternoon aimed to enhance the economic relationship between Ho Chi Minh City and the Japanese prefecture.

The Ho Chi Minh City delegation’s visit to Japan began on April 6 and will last until 16.

The meeting was chaired by Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Dinh La Thang and Governor of Hyogo Prefecture Toshizo Ido, and was attended by officials and business leaders from the two localities.

According to Secretary Thang, Ho Chi Minh City is a ‘locomotive’ in the development of Vietnam’s Southern Key Economic Zone, while Hyogo plays the central role in Japan’s Kansai region.

The meeting was attended by officials from two localities on April 12, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Both localities are industrial centers and have seaports, Thang continued.

Agreeing with Thang, Governor Ido stated that similarities between the two localities will be important contributors to their bilateral cooperation.

With the openness of Ho Chi Minh City leaders and the supportive policies of Hyogo, positive results are expected to continue in the collaboration process, the Japanese official said.

Aside from preferential policies the Vietnamese metropolis has in store for foreign businesses in general, specific incentives are also offered to investors from Japan, Tran Thi Binh Minh, deputy director of the municipal Department of Planning and Investment, explained at the event.

The delegation of Ho Chi Minh City officials visits the factory of Kawasaki Company in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Photo: Tuoi Tre

“These policies are aimed at providing favorable conditions and an effective environment for Japanese companies to operate within the city,” Minh elaborated.

Thanks to this support from Ho Chi Minh City, more investors from Hyogo are expected to expand their operations to the metropolis in the near future, Yasutaka Katayama, an official from the Hyogo Industry, Employment & International Affairs Department, said.

There are currently 22 businesses from Hyogo operating in Ho Chi Minh City, Katayama added.

Following the working session, the Ho Chi Minh City delegation paid a visit to the Kawasaki Company factory for insight into the development history of Japan’s Shinkansen high-speed train.