800 athletes race for traffic safety in Hanoi

• Public Security Force urged to ensure absolute safety for Vietnam Kizuna Ekiden 2018
• MPS encourages its sport team participating in Vietnam National Games

Deputy Minister of Public Security speaks at the event.

The event saw the participation of Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Thanh, Deputy Minister of Public Security; Mr. Umeda Kunio, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Vietnam; Lieutenant General Kato Akihisa, General Director of the National Police Agency of Japan; representatives of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the authorities of Hanoi, the National Committee for Traffic Safety, leaders of the Mainichi Newspaper and Kanagawa Prefecture; and over 800 athletes.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Thanh emphasized that the bilateral relations and cooperation between Vietnam and Japan have developed comprehensively and effectively in all areas in recent times.

A member of J-pop girlband AKB48 also joins the race.

He also highlighted that the Kizuna Ekiden 2018 was a meaningful event to mark the 45th anniversary of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic ties. The race was also a chance to promote the cultural exchange, solidarity, mutual understanding and friendship of the Vietnamese Public Security Forces and Japanese police force as well as between businesses and people of the two countries.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Thanh also stressed that the Kizuna Ekiden 2018 coincided with “The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims”, contributing to raising the public awareness of traffic safety and order and sense of responsibility of the traffic forces in ensuring traffic safety and order. 

The Kizuna Ekiden 2018, organized by the MPS of Vietnam in collaboration with the Mainichi Newspaper, was part of a series of events in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic relations. It attracted much attention from the public as it was participated in by various well-known sport professionals, celebrities and politicians of Japan.

Several photos of the event: