President Vo Van Thuong highly appreciated the capital Tokyo's active cooperation in many aspects with Vietnamese localities.

President Vo Van Thuong and his wife visited and encouraged the owner of the Xin Chao Bread brand. *Photo: VOV*

The restaurant chain “Banh mi Xin Chao” was founded in 2016 by two brothers from Quang Nam , Bui Thanh Duy (37 years old) and Bui Thanh Tam (32 years old), and has now become a network of 15 stores across Japan. Overcoming many difficulties in the early days of starting their business, the two brothers Duy and Tam have researched and developed many different flavors from Hoi An bread, each of which brings its own unique flavor. On average, the Vietnamese bread shop of the two brothers welcomes about 500 diners every day.

With the slogan "Taste bread, Taste Vietnamese flavors", after nearly 10 years of development and growth, from a small shop, to now, it has become a chain of stores appearing throughout Japan. "Banh Mi Xin Chao" has left a strong mark of unique Vietnamese cuisine in the "land of cherry blossoms".

Through delicious loaves of bread, the two brothers Duy and Tam hope to contribute to promoting the cuisine, culture, and the enthusiasm and intelligence of Vietnamese youth to Japan. They also want to contribute part of their efforts to support the Vietnamese community in Japan to unite and develop; to be a small part of the bridge of friendship, cultural exchange, and economy between Japan and Vietnam.

President Vo Van Thuong and his wife and guests enjoy the flavor of Xin Chao Bread. *Photo: VOV*

In a space imbued with Vietnamese culture in the heart of Tokyo, President Vo Van Thuong and his wife, along with Japanese guests, enjoyed typical Vietnamese dishes such as banh mi, Quang noodles, pho, coffee, spring rolls, sweet soups, etc.

Talking to the guests here, President Vo Van Thuong highly appreciated and thanked the Governor and generations of leaders of Tokyo for actively promoting multi-faceted cooperation between Tokyo and Vietnamese localities, especially with Hanoi, in the fields of economics, trade, investment, cultural exchange, education, tourism, people-to-people exchange, etc. and creating conditions for Vietnamese businesses and people to do business and start-up in Tokyo.

The President said that Vietnam and Japan have many similarities and closeness in culture and cuisine. These similarities have created a particularly good relationship between the two countries and peoples. On the basis of the traditional friendship and close cooperation between the two countries, every year, in Vietnam, many exhibitions, fairs, and cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Japan take place, which are very exciting and attract a large number of participants.

Delighted to enjoy the special dishes of his homeland right in Japan, President Vo Van Thuong acknowledged and expressed his pride that there are more and more young Vietnamese people who are always full of enthusiasm, willing to learn and make efforts to seize development opportunities in Japan like the two founders of the restaurant brand “Banh mi Xin chao”. These efforts are not only to start a business in Japan but also to help promote Vietnamese culture as well as bring people of the two countries closer together through culinary culture.

Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko congratulated President Vo Van Thuong on his very successful talks with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and the two leaders issued a Joint Statement upgrading the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World. Emphasizing the great significance and meaningful moment of President Vo Van Thuong's visit to Japan, which took place in the year commemorating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan and the two countries have carried out a series of cooperation, exchange and cultural activities to celebrate this special event, Governor Koike believed that the visit would be a great success, creating a particularly important mark in the history of bilateral relations.

Ms. Koike also said that Tokyo city is currently deploying a high-tech flood prevention system, ready to cooperate and deploy with Vietnamese cities.

President Vo Van Thuong expressed his hope that the Governor would continue to create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community to do business, live and study in Tokyo; at the same time, he thanked the leaders of large Japanese corporations and enterprises for always paying great attention to Vietnam; implementing investment activities in Vietnam; making great contributions to socio-economic development and improving the quality of life of the people.

The President stressed that the recent upgrading of the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership would be an important milestone, opening a new chapter in the development of bilateral relations. On this occasion, the President also asked the Governor of Tokyo to promote cooperation in sharing experiences in fire prevention and control and flood control with Hanoi and other localities in Vietnam.

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