In 2019, via the support and introduction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yen Bai and Mimasaka signed an agreement to establish bilateral friendship and cooperative ties, a milestone marking the start of their good relationship.

Chairman of the committee Tran Huy Tuan said that although the cooperation agreement has just been implemented in such areas as delegation exchange, health care, culture, and investment, significant results have been achieved. Through these activities, the two sides have strengthened their collaboration, solidarity, friendship, and mutual understanding.

Mayor Hagiwara Seiji said that during working sessions with provincial leaders, departments and localities of Yen Bai, the delegation suggested many ideas and proposals on ways to boost collaboration between the two localities in the coming time, including promoting trade ties through the export of Suoi Giang tea from Van Chan district to Mimasaka, and receiving nurses from Yen Bai city to work in the Japanese city.

The Mimasaka delegation, which also visited some scenic landscapes of Yen Bai, will help introduce images of the Vietnamese province to people in Japan in general and Mimasaka in particular, he added.

Regarding bilateral cooperation in the coming time, Tuan asked the two sides to continue exchanging high-level and technical delegations to enhance cooperation and carry out joint projects while stepping up investment and trade partnerships. He called on Mimasaka to provide information on his province’s potential and strengths to Japanese firms to encourage them to explore investment, business, and cooperation opportunities in Yen Bai.

Yen Bai will assign the provincial People’s Committee Office to supply trade promotion information so that local products can enter Japan and images of the province introduced to people of Mimasaka and Japan.

In addition, it will permit the Yen Bai College and the Yen Bai Vocational College to recruit teachers of the Japanese language. The provincial administration will also consider assistance for the two schools to provide training in the Japanese language, and the exemption of school fees for students enrolling in the training branches meeting the Northeast Asian country’s recruitment demand.

In 2019, Yen Bai province and Mimasaka city signed a cooperation agreement on vocational training, intern exchange, labour export, agriculture, and tourism. In September 2023, they inked a cooperation framework agreement in the fields of culture, tourism, agriculture, labour, education, and investment for the 2022 - 2025 period.

Vice Chairman of the Yen Bai provincial People’s Committee Ngo Hanh Phuc and Mimasaka Mayor Hagiwara Seiji offer incense in commemoration of President Ho Chi Minh at rostrum of Yen Bai city’s stadium, a national historical relic site.