The 10th Vietnam-Japan Festival features over 100 booths, around 30 stage performances, and special activity zones, including Olympic sports events. Organisers expect the event to attract about 450,000 visitors, surpassing last year’s record of 420,000.
Vietnamese and Japanese delegates pose for a photo at the opening of the festival (Photo: VNA)
HCM City (VNA) – The 10th Vietnam-Japan Festival officially kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on March 8, featuring a series of vibrant cultural, sports, trade, and tourism activities.
Themed “Hand in Hand – Together Forever,” the festival aims to foster deeper understanding and strengthen the bond between the people of both nations. The opening ceremony was attended by senior Vietnamese and Japanese officials, underscoring the event’s significance in promoting bilateral relations.
Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Van Duoc highlighted the festival’s decade-long journey since its inaugural event in 2013, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Japan.
This year’s event coincides with the second year of the Vietnam-Japan comprehensive strategic partnership. Duoc expressed optimism that this strengthened relationship would open new opportunities for investment cooperation, cultural exchange, and mutual development. He also noted the upcoming inauguration of Metro Line No. 1 (Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien) on March 9 as a milestone in the city’s urban infrastructure collaboration with Japan.
Takebe Tsutomu, Special Advisor to the Japan-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance, praised the festival for enhancing mutual understanding and fostering connections between the two countries across fields such as economy, culture, society, and academia. He expressed his hope that Vietnam and Japan would continue to strengthen their collaboration with a spirit of solidarity for the future.
A dance performance of Japanese artists at the festival (Photo: VNA)
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu called the festival’s theme a powerful message of solidarity and commitment to nurturing the enduring friendship between the two nations. He expressed his confidence that the festival would continue to expand, creating more practical and effective opportunities for cooperation.
According to Sugano Yuichi, Chief Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Vietnam, a sponsor of the event, the festival is one of the largest Vietnam - Japan exchange event in Vietnam, with this year having more stalls than the previous years.
This year’s festival features over 100 booths, around 30 stage performances, and special activity zones, including Olympic sports events. Organisers expect the event to attract about 450,000 visitors, surpassing last year’s record of 420,000.
The two-day festival includes trade, culinary, and tourism exchange events, as well as seminars and business meetings promoting Japanese tourism in Vietnam. The highlights are cultural exchange programmes between Vietnamese and Japanese students, cycling events, musical performances, traditional Japanese sports demonstrations, and showcases of Vietnamese ao dai and Japanese calligraphy.
Cycling forms part of activities in the festival (Photo: VNA)
To mark its 10th anniversary, HCM City plans to host the first-ever cultural festival in Tokyo on November 1-2. The event will feature cultural performances, LED light displays, exhibitions, and trade and investment promotion activities, further strengthening bilateral ties./.
Jointly organised by the municipal People's Committee and Japanese partners, the event aims to strengthen cultural, trade, and tourism exchanges between the two nations.
Vice Chairman of the HCM City People's Committee Vo Van Hoan hailed Japan as the city's third largest investor, with nearly 1,800 projects valued at over 5.9 billion USD. The steady growth of trade between Ho Chi Minh City and Japan reflects the effectiveness and substance of their economic ties.
Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lieut. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien stressed that the world is undergoing era-defining transformations. Against this backdrop, the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+) has proven effective in managing regional security, fostering dialogue, and enhancing cooperation to address emerging challenges, helping to maintain peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific.
The trip will be made at the invitations of Chinese Premier Li Qiang and WEF President and CEO Børge Brende, according to an announcement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Long spoke highly of the dynamic, positive, and comprehensive development of Vietnam – Russia relations in recent years. He affirmed that the Vietnamese Party and State place great importance on further strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia in a substantive and effective manner, in line with the development needs of both nations.
At the conference, participants reported that the Government has so far issued 28 decrees on the delegation of responsibilities and powers between the central Government and two-tier local administrations. Several localities have already piloted the new governance model.
Reality is the ultimate benchmark for success, he said, urging drafting agencies to work out policies that foster development, reduce bureaucratic hurdles, and respect practical conditions.
Under the official dispatch signed on June 20, ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, and chairpersons of provincial and municipal People’s Committees are requested to concentrate efforts on implementing core measures to ensure the smooth operations of the new administrative framework.
The Party chief underscored the need for the press to innovate relentlessly, evolve to keep pace with the country's development, transform into a truly professional, humanistic, and modern sector that serves the cause of the Party, the State, and the people on the path to national construction and development.
The UN Secretary-General praised Vietnam’s remarkable achievements in socio-economic development and international integration in recent years, noting that the country has emerged as a model in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), promoting international peace and security, and engaging in key UN processes.
Nghia affirmed that this is a milestone of special significance, affirming and honouring the the Vietnamese revolutionary press’s glorious tradition of 100 years of serving the revolutionary cause of the Party, serving the Fatherland, and serving the people.
The Party and State of Vietnam always attach great importance to and give top priority to the development of Vietnam–China relations. Vietnam is ready to work with the Chinese Party and State to further deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership and promote the building of the Vietnam-China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance.
Under the leadership of President Ho Chi Minh and the CPV, President Cuong said, the press has been a steadfast force on the ideological and cultural front, rallying the masses to pursue national aspirations.
NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man stressed the need to accelerate the application of artificial intelligence and smart teaching equipment, innovate teaching and assessment methods, and further improve the quality of formal education.
He also pledged that the NA will promote its ongoing supervision, making sure that every promise must lead to results, and every commitment must bring about real changes.
Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien welcomed the proposals put forward by the US side and reiterated Vietnam’s request for consideration of key areas of interest, including reciprocal tariff policies and access for Vietnamese key export products to the US market.
Deputy PM Le Thanh Long proposed countries promote shared values, including building trust, sincerity, and solidarity among nations and peoples; fostering cooperation spirit and responsible behaviour as well as upholding international law and the UN Charter; and placing people at the centre and as the goal, the key player, and the driving force of all policies.
The show, together with a grand parade to be held silmutaneously at Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi, will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution, the National Day, and the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA).
In particular, in April 2023, the two sides successfully carried out a joint operation that dismantled a major organised, transnational drug trafficking ring involving both Vietnamese and Cambodian suspects.
The Vietnamese Embassy in Israel is closely coordinating with relevant local agencies to stay informed and provide the utmost support possible for Vietnamese nationals.
The launch of Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper in 1925, even before the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam, is considered a testament to President Ho Chi Minh’s strategic foresight and strong belief in the guiding power of the revolutionary media.
