The view of the meeting

At the meeting, Mr. Matsuo Tomoyuki shared information on soba production development. The Japan - Vietnam Gastronomy Association has been trading soba noodles in Vietnam for 10 years. In 2015, the association started soba production associated with buckwheat (soba) field tourism, which is the main tourism resource of Ha Giang. The soba products has been exported to Japan since 2022. As the current demand for brown soba noodles in Japan is very high, the Association is considering expanding the soba production out of Ha Giang province in 2024 including expanding the factory scale and establishing a better logistics system.

Chairman of Japan - Vietnam Gastronomy Association Matsuo Tomoyuki speaks at the meeting

The Chairman of Japan - Vietnam Gastronomy Association said that Cao Bang has suitable soil and climate conditions for growing buckwheat, and is quite convenient in transporting products to Hai Phong port. He proposed expanding soba production in Cao Bang province to bring soba production income for farmers and agrotourism income for farmers and tourism related business owners. He expressed his hope that the soba production development project would be a bridge to link Cao Bang and a Japanese locality which has the similar conditions to Cao Bang as well as to expand the connection of intra-provincial and inter-provincial tours.

Deputy Director of Cao Bang Department of Foreign Affairs Trieu Thi Kieu Dung speaks at the meeting

At the meeting, Deputy Director of Cao Bang Department of Foreign Affairs Trieu Thi Kieu Dung briefly introduced Cao Bang's potentials and strengths in agriculture, sustainable tourism and border trade, and a number of preferential policies to attract investment in Cao Bang province. Currently in some places of Cao Bang, buckwheat flowers have been grown for tourism. Mrs. Trieu Thi Kieu Dung expected that the Chairman of Japan - Vietnam Gastronomy Association Matsuo Tomoyuki would support the promotion of the friendship forming betweeen Vietnam's Cao Bang province and Japan's Chiba province. "The connection of intra-provincial and inter-provincial tours have been paid attention to enhance the province's tourism", she added.

At the end of the meeting, the related Departments agreed to propose to advise the Provincial People's Committee on a suitable location for the Association to research and deploy the expansion of soba (buckwheat) production areas in Cao Bang province.