Japan attaches much importance to its relations with Vietnam and wants to bolster the extensive strategic partnership between the two countries, said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Minister of National Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 

He made the statement while hosting a reception on April 10 for Vietnamese Minister of National Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich, who is on an official visit to Japan at the invitation of his Japanese counterpart Onodera Itsunori.

Lauding the signing of the Joint Vision Statement on defence cooperation in the next decade, the Japanese Government leader hoped that both nations will foster collaboration in security-defence, diplomacy, economy and people-to-people exchange.

Reminding the Japanese Emperor and Empress’s visit to Vietnam last year, he thanked the Vietnamese side for giving them a warm welcome.

For his part, General Ngo Xuan Lich stressed that Vietnam and Japan boast a long-standing friendship and share similarities in culture and customs. Japan, as the largest ODA provider for Vietnam, is a leading partner of the Southeast Asian nation in economic development.

“Vietnamese Government and people always treasure the development of comprehensive relations with Japan,” he said, adding that 2017 was a significant year for Vietnam-Japan ties when both sides saw the visits of the Japanese Emperor and Empress and Prime Minister to Vietnam and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to Japan.

He said Vietnam always appraises Japan’s roles and initiatives as well as supports the country in enhancing cooperation with Southeast Asian nations and the ASEAN bloc. He said he hopes that Japan will make more positive contributions to maintaining regional peace and stability.

Briefing the Japanese Prime Minister of the outcomes of his talks with Defence Minister Onodera Itsunori, he expressed his wish that Abe will continue support for the cooperation between the two ministries.

Lich’s visit to Japan is part of the activities to mark 45th anniversary of the Vietnam-Japan diplomatic relations.

Vietnam, Japan step up audit cooperation

Auditor General of the State Audit Office (SAV) of Vietnam Ho Duc Phoc (R) and President of the Audit Commission of Japan Teruhiko Kawato. 

Auditor General of the State Audit Office (SAV) of Vietnam Ho Duc Phoc has urged the Audit Commission (AC) of Japan to share experience with the SAV in operational audit and audit in the field of information technology as well as personnel training.

During his meeting with AC President Teruhiko Kawato in Tokyo on April 10, Phoc said the SAV wants to receive cooperation from the AC, stressing that this will help elevate the SAV’s development to a new height as well as ensure its functions and missions as assigned by the National Assembly and the State.

Vietnam and Japan have enjoyed a fruitful strategic partnership in the past time and the East Asian nation is currently the largest provider of ODA for Vietnam with 2.6 trillion JPY (some 24.3 billion USD), Phoc noted, adding that as the SAV is entrusted with auditing ODA funds in Vietnam, collaboration between the two audit bodies will be tightened in the future. 

On the occasion, he thanked the AC for giving support to Vietnam in the past years, hoping that the two agencies, both being members of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and the Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI), will fortify solidarity and bilateral cooperation to develop INTOSAI and ASOSAI.

Teruhiko, for his part, said that the two audit agencies have seen sound cooperation, not only through the INTOSAI and the ASOSAI but also through the exchanges between the two countries.

With meticulous preparations, the SAV will successfully organise the 14th Assembly of the ASOSAI in September 2018 and as an ASOSAI member, Japan pledged to make every effort to contribute to the assembly’s success, he stressed.

Regarding the cooperation programme, Teruhiko said that together with applying IT in data analysis to improve audit efficiency, the AC is developing an audit information system to strengthen audit security.

Japanese tax system as well as auditor training programmes and plans were presented at the meeting. Teruhiko hoped that Japanese experience will be worthwhile for the SAV.

VNA