Da Nang (VNA) – The Vietnam-Japan Festival in the central beach city of Da Nang opened on July 4 evening.

In her opening remarks, Vice Chairwoman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Anh Thi said that the 9th edition gathered 85 booths from big names of the two countries like Acecook, Honda, Nam A Bank, Mikazuki Resorts and Spa, and Toyota, along with typical OCOP (one commune one product) products of the central city.

Within the framework of the four-day event, there are also sports and art exchange programmes with many activities held for the first time such as Japanese baseball experience, Bon Odori dance, and Japanese and Vietnamese tea exchange.

Thi said that with a desire to establish practical and effective directions for a strong development of the Vietnam - Japan relationship in Da Nang, this year's festival has been expanded across various sectors, from tourism promotion, investment, and economic cooperation to information dissemination, product promotion, as well as cultural and sports exchanges and culinary experiences between the two sides.

Notably, the Da Nang - Japan Meeting, scheduled for July 5, is expected to serve as a forum for both sides to exchange specific topics and update new trends in cooperation within priority development sectors of the central city such as hi-tech industry, information technology, electronics, semiconductor microchips, and human resources.

Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Ito Naoki expressed his hope to, together with the municipal authorities and Japanese enterprises, jointly exert efforts to further promote exchanges through cultural, sports, and tourism activities, as well as economic cooperation, including investment endeavors.

There are currently more than 200 Japanese businesses operating in Central Vietnam, mainly in Da Nang. For Japan, Da Nang is an important partner in many aspects, including trade, investment and tourism, the diplomat said. Japan is currently running about 254 FDI projects in the city with a total investment of about 1.02 billion USD.

He said he hopes that the festival will be an opportunity to arouse the young generation’s interest in Jap❀an, helping them explore and deepen their understanding about the Eastಌ Asian country./.