At the meeting, Yuji said a Kaganawa festival will be held on pedestrian streets around Ho Guom (Returned Sword lake) in the heart of Hanoi on November 19 and 20 as one of the highlights of culture cooperation between the two countries.

The Kaganawa festival was first held in Hanoi in 2018, although it endured a period of disruption for three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yuji hoped that the event would contribute to deepen relations between Kaganawa in particular, Japan in general, and Vietnam.

He said a Vietnam festival in Kanagawa Prefecture in September 2022 attracted over 100,000 arrivals, noting such annual festival not only promotes cultural exchanges, but also presents economic cooperation opportunities.

Since 2015 there have been 12 Vietnamese businesses pouring investment into Kanagawa Prefecture, whilst 24 businesses from the Japanese locality have poured investment into the Vietnamese market, he stressed.

Minister Hung expressed hope that his ministry and Kanagawa would sign a memorandum of understanding or an action plan to outline further cooperation between both sides.

Both host and guest said the two sides would work closely together in 2023 to celebrate 50 years of the Vietnam – Japan diplomacy.