ASEAN, Japanese youths jointly act for sustainable development
The ASEAN-Japan Youth Festival was held in Ho Chi Minh City on December 13 night as part of activities to celebrate 50 years of ASEAN-Japan partnership and to enhance understanding and exchanges between the youths of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan.
HCM City (VNA)ꦚ – TheASEAN-Japan Youth Festival was held in Ho Chi Minh City on December 13 night as partof activities to celebrate 50 years of ASEAN-Japan partnership and to enhance understanding and exchanges between the youths of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan.
About 110 young people from Japan and nine ASEAN countries - Campuchia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - joined the festival which is themed “ASEAN – JapanYouth Hand-in-hand to Implement Sustainable Development Goals”.
Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Deputy PrimeMinister Tran Luu Quang said that the year 2023 holds a very special historicalsignificance for both ASEAN and Japan as the two sides are celebrating the 50th founding anniversary of their cooperative relations, and at thesame time upgraded their relations to a comprehensive strategicpartnership.
♔ Looking back on the past 50 years, peopleof the countries are happy to see the ASEAN-Japan cooperative relations have been developing strongly and achieved great achievements, he said.
The two sides are truly reliablepartners of each other, making important contributions to peace, stability,cooperation and development in Southeast Asia, Asia Pacific, and the world, the Deputy PM stressed. Quang noted that young people of ASEAN andJapan have been making great contributions to the ASEAN-Japan cooperation. He urged young people to promote their dynamism,creativity, intelligence and desire for innovation to help the ASEAN-Japan relationsgrow stronger and stronger and successfully implement sustainable developmentgoals for the happiness of the people of the ASEAN countries and Japan, for peaceand prosperity of the region and the world. Within the framework of the festival,participants engaged in exchanges, sports and cultural activities, includingexperiencing local culture and cuisine, visiting some landmarks in Ho Chi MinhCity, visiting an exhibition on friendship relations and youth cooperationbetween ASEAN and Japan, and attending mangrove tree planting in Can Giodistrict./.
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Participants at the festival. (Photo: VNA) 
