Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Manh Quyen (R) at the reception.

According to Mayor Hirosuke Imazu, Asahikawa is located in the center of Hokkaido (Japan). The city has strengths in handicrafts and making further efforts to expand the development of the creative design industry.

With that goal, Asahikawa has a design introduction center with 40 businesses to display and develop ideas, create highly artistic, creative, and applicable handicraft products as well as research effective forest planting and exploitation policies, ensuring the sustainable development of handicrafts.

Mayor Hirosuke Imazu said Hanoi, with its rich history and a blend of East-West features, has great potential in developing the design field. Therefore, he looks forward to strengthening cooperation with Hanoi in this field and hopes to expand cooperation to other potential areas in the future.

"Hanoi and Asahikawa are "destined" to belong to the creative city network recognized by UNESCO", Mayor Hirosuke shared, “in October 2024, Asahikawa will host the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of design, affirmed that they look forward to the participation of representatives from Hanoi.”

Delegates take a group photo.

Appreciating the goodwill of cooperation from Asahikawa city leaders, Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Manh Quyen affirmed that cooperation in preserving and developing traditional culture, of which the development of the handicraft industry is one of Hanoi's goals.

According to the city's Vice Chairman, with a rich cultural history, the Capital currently gathers nearly 6,000 relics and 1,300 craft villages, accounting for 56% of the total number of craft villages across the country. In that context, the handicraft industry still has a lot of room for development, and it is necessary to expand cooperation to enhance and further promote its inherent potential.

Affirming that Hanoi and Asahikawa have commonalities in development goals, the Vice Chairman welcomed the two sides to exploit their inherent potential, not only in their strong fields but also to expand further in education, tourism, and culture.

With that perspective, Quyen assigned the Hanoi Department of Foreign Affairs to be the focal point to further research the strengths and goals of the two sides to move forward with specific cooperation; connecting associations, businesses, and craft villages to promote cooperative relations and trade activities in the field of design. At the same time, he said that Hanoi will consider sending a delegation to attend the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of design in 2024.

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