Chairman of the People’s Committee of the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho Vo Thanh Thong on Sunday had a working session with a Japanese delegation to discuss co-operation opportunities in agriculture and personnel training in this sector.

The Japanese delegation includes Hitoshi Kinouchi, a professor of Tokai University; Susumu Ishihara, an advisor of Japanese language training; and Masayuki Abe, director of the Human Resource Research Institute and director of the Vietnam Agricultural Information Centre (VAIC).

According to Hitoshi, the Mekong Delta is like Japan in the past as it has small-scale agriculture with production mainly conducted by households, thus hindering product processing and distribution to companies.

Japanese farming households have grouped into co-operatives to tackle the problem and also sell agricultural products with high prices, he said.

Hitoshi suggested Japan and Can Tho partner with each other in the farming sector, saying the most important issue is how to improve agricultural quality and technology.

For his part, Thong said Can Tho is interested in partners and investors from Japan and wishes to co-operate with the Japanese side in personnel training, especially the farming sector.

He called on Japan to provide technical support for Can Tho and consider dispatching volunteers to Can Tho to take part in high-tech agriculture research programmes, while helping local farmers access the market and apply high and bio-technologies in the sector.

The official also highlighted Can Tho’s call for investments into high-tech agriculture parks in Thoi Lai and Co Do districts.

Thong suggested the Japanese side assist the city to build a website in Japanese language to facilitate the sharing of market information between the two sides.

Can Tho is now home to 13 projects invested by Japanese firms with a total investment of US$10.5 million. — VNS