The meeting between Deputy Minister – Mr. Le Van Thanh and his colleges, on behalf of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and delegates of Kanagawa province (Japan) led by Governor – Mr. Yuji Kuroiwa was held in the morning of November 19^th, 2019, at the headquarter of MOLISA. During the meeting, two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Human Resource Development between Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and Kanagawa Prefectural Government.
Since diplomatic relations were established on September 21^st, 1973, the cooperation between Vietnam and Japan has been constantly strengthened, developed and became an extensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia.
Over the past 40 years, the political relationship between Vietnam and Japan has been strengthened and consolidated, becoming more and more substantive, based on similar strategic interests. The cooperation between two countries has developed in all fields of politics, security, economy, agriculture, culture, tourism, agriculture, labor, education and training, and coping with climate changes, etc.
Japan is currently Vietnam's leading economic partner. As of September 2019, Japan had 4,291 valid foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of US $ 60.36 billion.
Currently, the Vietnamese community in Japan is about 330,000, ranking 3rd among the foreign community in Japan. Vietnamese people currently live, work and study in 47 provinces and cities under Japan.
Up to now, over 250,000 Vietnamese trainees have been sent to take internship in Japan. According to statistics, from the beginning of 2019 to November 2019, 64,429 Vietnamese trainees came to work in Japan. This is also a valuable resource and a bridge to nurture bilateral relations for decades to come.
Along with national-level cooperation, Japanese provinces and cities also paid more attention to promote the cooperation between them and Vietnam's ministries, branches and localities. Kanagawa and Vietnam have developed the cooperation in a variety of fields such as culture, education and economy. Currently, about 16,000 Vietnamese live and work in Kanagawa. The Vietnamese community in Japan has always been interested in creating conditions for employment and integration into local life.
Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs highly appreciated the signing of this MoU on Human Resource Development between the MOLISA and Kanagawa Prefectural Government. The signing of this MoU will contribute to promote further cooperation between two countries in labor and human resource development by establishing a bilateral cooperation framework, including the dispatching and receipt of engineers, technicians, skill trainees, special workers, travel vocational students in fields of mutual interest. According to this MoU, cooperation assistance in the field of health care and nursing shall be firstly made. Then, two sides will discuss to expand their assistance to other areas after reaching relevant conditions.

Source: Department of Overseas Labor Management