Realizing the opening of a direct flight route from Hokkaido to Vietnam.

On July 9th, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Anh Tuan received Mr. Nakata Takahiro, Honorary Consul of Vietnam in Hokkaido, who was visiting and working in Vietnam from July 8th to 11th.

Deputy Minister Le Anh Tuan received Mr. Nakata Takahiro, Honorary Consul of Vietnam in Hokkaido, who was visiting and working in Vietnam from July 8-11. (Photo: Thanh Long)

Deputy Minister Le Anh Tuan expressed his delight at the strong, substantive, effective, and comprehensive development of Vietnam-Japan cooperation after nearly two years of upgrading the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Economic cooperation continues to be an important pillar of the bilateral relationship, with Japan being the number one partner in ODA and labor, the third in investment and tourism, and the fourth in trade…

Local cooperation, cultural exchange, people-to-people exchanges, and human resource cooperation are becoming increasingly close and effective. The Vietnamese community in Japan has grown to over 600,000 people, making positive contributions to the socio-economic development of both countries.

Thanking the Governor and the Hokkaido provincial government for their cooperation and support in arranging and preparing for the meaningful visit of Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung's delegation to Japan at the end of May, Deputy Minister Le Anh Tuan stated that the visit contributed to promoting cooperation between the two countries in the fields of economics, trade, tourism, science and technology, and innovation.

Sharing information about the "Four Pillars" of the strategy and the streamlining of the administrative apparatus, and the implementation of a two-tiered local government organizational model from July 1, 2025, Deputy Minister Le Anh Tuan affirmed that these are breakthroughs aimed at achieving national development goals, simplifying administrative procedures, empowering localities more, contributing to improving the business environment, enhancing competitiveness, and meeting the requirements of Vietnam's strong development in the new era, the era of national progress.

Deputy Minister Le Anh Tuan highly appreciated the effective and close cooperation between Hokkaido province and Vietnam in many fields, especially in investment, trade, human resources, cultural exchange, and tourism in recent years. He expressed gratitude and appreciation for Mr. Nakata's efforts in fulfilling the functions of the Honorary Consul in his consular district, as well as his positive contributions to promoting cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

The Deputy Minister requested that Honorary Consul Nakata continue to promote cooperation between Hokkaido Prefecture and Vietnam in areas where the prefecture has strengths, such as science and technology and semiconductors; promote the recruitment and training of high-quality human resources to serve the needs of Vietnam and Japan; and pay attention to and implement cooperation activities in culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges between Hokkaido and Vietnam.

Deputy Minister Le Anh Tuan and Honorary Consul Nakata agreed on opening a direct flight route from Hokkaido to Vietnam. (Photo: Thanh Long)

Honorary Consul Nakata and his delegation expressed their honor at being received by Deputy Minister Le Anh Tuan during their visit to Vietnam.

Reporting on the progress in cooperation and exchange between Hokkaido Prefecture and Vietnam in the past period, Mr. Nakata said that Hokkaido Prefecture, Hokkaido Airlines, and Vietnam Airlines Corporation have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on the implementation of direct flights between Hokkaido and Vietnam. Accordingly, in the first year, charter flights will be implemented, and they hope to open a direct route from Hokkaido to Vietnam in March 2026, contributing to strengthening people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Honorary Consul Nakata highly appreciated the contributions of the nearly 13,000 Vietnamese people living, studying, and working in Hokkaido Prefecture; affirming that he will continue to closely coordinate with the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan in protecting Vietnamese citizens and creating favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community in the prefecture, as well as organizing cultural exchange festivals between Vietnam and Japan to promote connection and understanding between the people of the two countries in general and between Hokkaido and Vietnam in particular.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/hien-thuc-hoa-viec-mo-duong-bay-truc-tiep-tu-hokkaido-sang-viet-nam-320473.html