Twenty years since the implementation of Doi Moi, Vietnam continues to experience remarkable development and is enjoying greater status within Southeast Asia as a result. To build a close, strategic partnership between Japan and Vietnam, it is becoming increasingly important to make an effort to go beyond central government exchange by also encouraging exchange at the local government level. This project aims to provide an impetus for promoting mutual understanding and exchange between local government officials and to develop sustainable exchange programs.
This year, efforts were focused on exchange between Viettri City in Phu Tho Province and Kashihara City in Nara Prefecture, both of which have made a serious effort to stimulate tourism using historical assets such as ancient ruins, and between Thaibinh Province, which is striving to achieve industrial diversification, and Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture, which has experience with the transition from the mining to the tourism industry. Two city officials from Kashihara and two city officials from Iwaki made two visits to Viettri City and Thaibinh Province, respectively, in November 2006 and in February 2007 to hold exchange workshops with local government officials. At the workshops, the officials recognized their common challenges, discussing such topics as artifact preservation and tourism promotion (in Viettri City), and tourism promotion, agricultural advancement, and human resource development to facilitate an industrial transition (in Thaibinh Province).