Vietnam aims to attract 1 million tourists from Japan by 2019, officials said at a tourism cooperation forum held in Yokohama city on October 28.

The forum and another on investment partnership between the two countries were organized by the Vietnamese Embassy and the administration of Kanagawa prefecture.

At the events, officials from Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Planning and Investment provided participants, including representatives of travel and industrial businesses, with information about Vietnam’s investment climate in tourism, trade and industry.

Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh province

They also popularized Vietnam’s images to the local enterprises and people, noting a surge in the number of foreign tourists to Vietnam, from 3.5 million in 2005 to about 8 million in 2015, including nearly 671,400 Japanese.

Meanwhile, officials of the Vietnamese provinces of Hung Yen, Quang Binh and Nghe An introduced their localities’ advantages and potential, along with incentives for Japanese firms to do investment.

Representatives of Kanagawa also presented the model for developing this prefecture’s industrial parks in Vietnam, such as Thang Long 2 Industrial Park in Hung Yen.

Governor Kuroiwa Yuji said Kanagawa will create the best possible conditions for its businesses to invest in Vietnam, especially in the prefecture’s industrial parks. These firms will be supported both before and after becoming operational in the Southeast Asian nation.

Source: VNA