Politburo member and Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung received Ibaragi Ryuta, Governor of Japan’s Okayama prefecture, in Hanoi on March 27. Attending the meeting was Dang Ngoc Hau, Vice Chairman of the Son La provincial People’s Committee.

The minister voiced satisfaction with the robust development and growing political trust of the Vietnam – Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. He hailed the increasingly substantive ties between Okayama and Vietnam, especially through the growing presence of businesses from the Japanese prefecture investing in the Southeast Asian nation.

Trung thanked the governor and authorities of Okayama for their continued support and favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community of around 13,000 people living and working in the prefecture.

He took this occasion to invite Ibaragi to send a business delegation to attend the second Vietnam – Japan Local Cooperation Forum, scheduled to take place in the central city of Hue in the third quarter of 2026.

Also present at the reception, Vice Chairman of the Son La People’s Committee Dang Ngoc Hau introduced this northern mountainous province’s potential and strengths. He expressed a wish to boost cooperation with Okayama in high-quality human resources supply, processing and manufacturing, high-tech agriculture, investment and tourism.

For his part, Ibaragi agreed with the proposals put forward by Trung and reaffirmed his intention to further enhance cooperation with Vietnamese localities.

Sharing orientations for future collaboration, he highlighted priorities such as human resources development, investment promotion and the possibility of launching direct air routes between Okayama and Vietnam.

The governor also commended the diligence and positive contributions of Vietnamese workers to his prefecture's socio-economic development, affirming that Okayama is ready to welcome more Vietnamese to work at its enterprises in the coming time.