HCM City (VNA) – Secretary of the HCM CityParty Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan received visiting President of the JapanInternational Cooperation Agency (JICA) Shinichi Kitaoka on September 13.

At the reception, Nhan spoke highly of JICA’s assistance in promoting Vietnam’seconomic growth and enhancing its international competitiveness through policysupport, infrastructure development and State administration improvement.

JICA has supported HCM City in projects on urban planning, environmentalprotection and improvement of people’s living conditions, thus contributing to fosteringthe strategic partnership between Vietnam and Japan, he said.

The municipal leader revealed that the city is facing numerous opportunitiesand challenges in its current development, especially climate change thataffects local environment and causes flooding amid degrading technicalinfrastructure.

To solve this problem, HCM City has been building water drainage systems andtide prevention sewers, he said, adding that the city wants to receive JICAsupport in constructing the works in the central areas and then suburban districtsin order to ease flooding and improve the environment.

Introducing the guest to an innovative urban area project in the city, Nhansaid that this is an opportunity for Japanese investors who are strong intechnology to engage in developing solar power systems serving public activitiesand special transport systems linking universities and hi-tech parks.

He also wished that JICA will continue assisting the city’s metro route No 1(Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien) and vowed to remove all difficulties facing investors andbusinesses in order to ensure the progress of the project.

For his part, Shinichi Kitaoka said Vietnam and Japan share a lot ofsimilarities in culture and religion. In addition to their extensive strategicpartnership, the two countries boast close collaboration between localities andbusinesses.

In the coming time, JICA will continue supporting HCM City in responding toclimate change and reducing flooding by accelerating a non-refundable aidproject between Osaka and HCM City on improving waste water drainage systems inthe Vietnamese locality, he said.

He expressed his belief that HCM City will continue to be an attractivedestination of Japanese investors, especially in the fields of health,transport, technical infrastructure, environment, and building of smart city andinnovative urban areas.

Over the past years, JICA has engaged in a number of major projects in Vietnam,including building Hai Van tunnel, upgrading National Road 5 and building PhyMy and O Mon thermal power plants.

In HCM City alone, it has been involved in the metro route No 1, East-Westavenue, Ben Luc-Long Thanh expressway, Binh Khanh and Phuoc Khanh bridges, aswell as improvement of water environment and water drainage and wastewatertreatment systems.-VNA