Hanoi (VNA) – Hanoi alwaysattaches importance to maintaining close cooperation with Japan and its localities,a municipal official has said.

Vice Secretary of the municipal PartyCommittee Ngo Thi Thanh Hang made the statement on November 21 while receivinga delegation of the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association (JVFA)’s Ibarakichapter led by its Chairwoman Yachie Yamaguchi, who is on a working visit toHanoi.

At the meeting, Hang spoke highly ofJapan’s investment projects in Hanoi, expressing her belief that thecomprehensive cooperation between the two countries in general and Hanoi andJapanese localities in particular will become more practical and effective.

She informed her guests that Hanoi ispaying heed to high-tech agriculture development. As Ibaraki prefecture hasexperience in the field, she said, she hopes the visit will help strengthencooperation of the two localities in the coming time.

Hang asked relevant agencies to join handswith the Japanese side to devise cooperation programmes ahead of the upcomingvisit to Hanoi by the governor of Ibaraki.

For her part, Yamaguchi said Vietnam andHanoi in particular boasts skilled and young human resources, which Japan andIbaraki have high demand for.

Echoing Hang’s view on agriculturalcooperation between the two localities, she said Ibaraki yields the secondlargest agricultural output throughout Japan, only after Hokkaido prefecture.

Cultural exchanges between Ibaraki andHanoi over the time have tightened the Vietnam-Japan friendship, she added./.