10th Vietnam-Japan Festival opens in HCM city

The 10th Vietnam-Japan Festival features over 100 booths, around 30 stage performances, and special activity zones, including Olympic sports events. Organisers expect the event to attract about 450,000 visitors, surpassing last year’s record of 420,000.

Vietnamese and Japanese delegates pose for a photo at the opening of the festival (Photo: VNA)
Vietnamese and Japanese delegates pose for a photo at the opening of the festival (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – The 10th Vietnam-Japan Festival officially kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on March 8, featuring a series of vibrant cultural, sports, trade, and tourism activities.

Themed “Hand in Hand – Together Forever,” the festival aims to foster deeper understanding and strengthen the bond between the people of both nations. The opening ceremony was attended by senior Vietnamese and Japanese officials, underscoring the event’s significance in promoting bilateral relations.

Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Van Duoc highlighted the festival’s decade-long journey since its inaugural event in 2013, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Japan.

This year’s event coincides with the second year of the Vietnam-Japan comprehensive strategic partnership. Duoc expressed optimism that this strengthened relationship would open new opportunities for investment cooperation, cultural exchange, and mutual development. He also noted the upcoming inauguration of Metro Line No. 1 (Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien) on March 9 as a milestone in the city’s urban infrastructure collaboration with Japan.

Takebe Tsutomu, Special Advisor to the Japan-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance, praised the festival for enhancing mutual understanding and fostering connections between the two countries across fields such as economy, culture, society, and academia. He expressed his hope that Vietnam and Japan would continue to strengthen their collaboration with a spirit of solidarity for the future.

vn-jp-3.jpg
A dance performance of Japanese artists at the festival (Photo: VNA)

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu called the festival’s theme a powerful message of solidarity and commitment to nurturing the enduring friendship between the two nations. He expressed his confidence that the festival would continue to expand, creating more practical and effective opportunities for cooperation.

According to Sugano Yuichi, Chief Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Vietnam, a sponsor of the event, the festival is one of the largest Vietnam - Japan exchange event in Vietnam, with this year having more stalls than the previous years.

This year’s festival features over 100 booths, around 30 stage performances, and special activity zones, including Olympic sports events. Organisers expect the event to attract about 450,000 visitors, surpassing last year’s record of 420,000.

The two-day festival includes trade, culinary, and tourism exchange events, as well as seminars and business meetings promoting Japanese tourism in Vietnam. The highlights are cultural exchange programmes between Vietnamese and Japanese students, cycling events, musical performances, traditional Japanese sports demonstrations, and showcases of Vietnamese ao dai and Japanese calligraphy.

vn-jp-cycling.jpg
Cycling forms part of activities in the festival (Photo: VNA)

To mark its 10th anniversary, HCM City plans to host the first-ever cultural festival in Tokyo on November 1-2. The event will feature cultural performances, LED light displays, exhibitions, and trade and investment promotion activities, further strengthening bilateral ties./.

VNA

See more

Ministries and sectors are requested to pay special attention to promoting election publicity and legal education. - Illustrative image (baochinhphu.vn)

Government sets out coordinated plan for 2026 elections

The plan also aims to ensure that the elections are conducted in a democratic, equal and law-abiding manner, while being safe and cost-effective, truly becoming a nationwide civic event, thus contributing to strengthening and enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of the state apparatus and building a socialist rule-of-law state of Vietnam of the people, by the people and for the people.

President Ho Chi Minh’s image featured on ballots at Communist Party of Uruguay congress (Photo: VNA)

Image of President Ho Chi Minh appears on ballots at Uruguay Communist Party congress

Among the ballots used at the congress were three featuring posters of President Ho Chi Minh and one bearing an image depicting the Vietnamese people engaged in production during the period of resistance against foreign aggression. The latter also carried the inscriptions “80th Anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day” and “33rd National Congress of the PCU".

Flowers are laid in memory of victims of the shooting on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on December 15, 2025. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)

Vietnam sends sympathy to Australia following Sydney shooting

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on December 15 sent a message of sympathy to his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese over a shooting that occurred on December 14 at Bondi beach in Sydney, New South Wales, resulting in multiple civilian casualties.

Party General Secretary To Lam and NA deputies are welcomed by locals in Hung Yen on December 15, 2025 (Photo: VNA)

Party leader meets with voters in Hung Yen province

Responding to Hung Yen voters’ recommendations, Party General Secretary To Lam affirmed the consistent principle of placing people at the centre, safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests, and ensuring that all policies and decisions serve the people.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung holds phone talks with Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Maria Theresa Lazaro on December 15. (Photo : VNA)

Vietnamese, Philippine foreign ministers hold phone talks

Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung and his Philippine counterpart Maria Theresa Lazaro agreed to continue promoting efforts to elevate bilateral ties to a new height, including stepping up high-level and all-level delegation exchanges across Party, State, National Assembly and people-to-people channels.

The NA Standing Committee's meeting on electoral affairs on December 15. (Photo: quochoi.vn)

NA Standing Committee discusses electoral affairs

The NA Standing Committee adopted a resolution on the first adjustment to the structure, composition, and number of candidates nominated for the 16th NA, and approved a plan to supervise and inspect the election.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man chairs the fourth meeting of the National Election Council on December 15, 2025. (Photo: VNA)

Election preparations on track ahead of upcoming polls: NA Chairman

Highlighting key positive aspects of the preparation process so far, the top legislator pointed to the strong, coordinated engagement of agencies from the central to local levels, swift yet methodical progress, particularly in finalising documents, developing organisational plans and drafting resolutions on electoral units.

Frigate 015 – Tran Hung Dao and the delegation of the Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN) on December 14 leave Jinhae Naval Base. (Photo: qdnd.vn)

Frigate 015 – Tran Hung Dao concludes visit to RoK

During the visit, officers and sailors of the two navies toured Frigate 015 and the RoK Navy’s Munmu the Great destroyer, shared experience in training and long-duration deployments at sea, and took part in sports exchanges. The VPN delegation also hosted a banquet aboard Frigate 015 for senior officers and sailors of the host navy.