Overview of the meeting (Photo: TITC)

MOCST’s Minister Nguyen Van Hung congratulated Mr. Ito Naoki on assuming the position of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Vietnam. MOCST’s Minister Nguyen Van Hung hopes that Ambassador Ito Naoki will have a successful term and promote friendly cooperation between the two countries.

MOCST’s Minister Nguyen Van Hung expressed his delight at the important and positive steps forward in the Vietnam - Japan relationship in recent times, especially the two countries' recent upgrade to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Noticeably is the effective cooperation activities in the fields of culture, sports and tourism. According to Minister Nguyen Van Hung, activities such as Vietnam Festival Day and Vietnam Festival Week in Japan are held periodically and regularly, and activities connecting Vietnamese localities and Japanese localities have been contributing to connecting the people of the two countries, promoting mutual understanding between the two nations.

MOCST’s Minister Nguyen Van Hung having a meeting with Mr. Ito Naoki, new Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam (Photo: TITC)

Regarding the sports field, MOCST’s Minister Nguyen Van Hung stated, sports cooperation between the two countries has been enhanced as Japan has greatly supported Vietnam in training coaches and athletes to participate in international sports tournaments.

Regarding the tourism field, recently, Vietnam tourism promotion activities at home and abroad have been taking place vigorously. Remarkably the successful organisation of the Vietnam Tourism and Cinema Promotion Programme in the US in last September, organisations, localities, and enterprises of Vietnam signed many MoUs with US partners on cooperation in tourism and cinema development.

MOCST’s Minister Nguyen Van Hung indicated, there is a large potential for tourism cooperation between the two countries, however, the number of tourist exchanges has not been as expected. In order to overcome difficulties and promote the development of tourism in both countries, MOCST’s Minister Nguyen Van Hung suggested Ambassador Ito Naoki to work with relevant sectors and propose governments to further improve visa policies, helping citizens of the two countries travel more conveniently and easily. Opening additional direct flights and increasing the frequency of flights to Vietnam will help increase the number of Japanese tourists to Vietnam, said Minister Nguyen Van Hung. At last, MOCST’s Minister Nguyen Van Hung hopes that Ambassador Ito Naoki will act as a bridge to connect and bring Japanese film producers and directors who love Vietnam's beautiful natural film studios to make quality films; bringing cooperation in culture, sports and tourism between the two countries to new heights.

The Minister expressed his hope that a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology could soon be signed so that cooperation in various fields can be more effective and successful.

MOCST’s Minister Nguyen Van Hung gifting souvenir to Mr. Ito Naoki, new Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam (Photo: TITC)

Mr. Ito Naoki, new Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam gifting souvenir to MOCST’s Minister Nguyen Van Hung (Photo: TITC)

Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Ito Naoki expressed his joy that the relationship between the two countries has made great strides in recent times and hoped that the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and Japan will practically implement through cooperation projects, enhancing people-to-people exchanges, especially promoting tourism cooperation.

Ambassador Ito Naoki said that Japan will continue to organise events in Vietnam as well as in Japan, and expressed his wish to receive close coordination from the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

According to Ambassador of Japan to Vietnam Ito Naoki, in 2025, Japan will organise a number of events, including hosting the EXPO 2025 in Osaka, Kansai; organising sustainable tourism seminar in Japan; along with participating in activities such as the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam - Japan University; Ha Noi International Film Festival…

Leaders of both sides taking souvenir photo (Photo: TITC)

Ambassador Ito Naoki suggested the MOCST to strengthen the cooperation in implementing Project "Improving the capacity of preserving and restoring cultural heritage of the Vietnam National Museum of History"; excavation and research of the Hoa Lu ancient capital relic (Ninh Binh Province). Ambassador Ito Naoki affirmed that he will closely accompany the MOCST to promote the cooperation in fields of culture, sports and tourism.

​​Tourism Information Technology Center