The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is working on a special technical support program to facilitate Vietnamese fishermen to make inroads into high-grade seafood markets of Japan and other countries, a Japanese official has said. At a meeting with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang in Hanoi on Feb 4, Mr. Hitoshi Kato, chairman of the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association in Sakai City, said he would do his best to make the ocean tuna export cooperation program between Vietnam and Japan. In turn, President Sang thanked the guest for his role in the Vietnam-Japan cooperation program on improving the efficiency of ocean tuna catching in the central province of Binh Dinh. The president said that he hopes the program will be expanded to other Vietnamese localities. Many fishermen in Binh Dinh have applied Japanese tuna technologies and some of their harvested tunas were brought to Japan’s Osaka auction, where Vietnam-sourced tunas were sold at higher prices than those in Vietnam’s market. (Nhan Dan – The People Feb 5)
