Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on December 16 attended a Vietnam-Japan economic forum in Tokyo as part of his ongoing trip to the East Asian country for attendance at the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation and bilateral activities.

At the event, whose theme highlighted the two countries’ economic relations in the new era and comprehensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia and the world, leaders of Japanese ministries, organisations, and businesses praised Vietnam's high growth rate, appropriate policies, large market, and excellent human resources.

They said that, with the perspective of being creative economic and social partners in the future, Japan will focus on collaboration and investment in Vietnam, particularly in future industries, and the reduction of carbon emissions.

The forum also heard presentations by representatives of Japanese businesses outlining their orientations as well as cooperation and investment proposals in green development and digital transformation in Vietnam.

Addressing the forum, PM Chinh held that the two countries’ political trust is now at a very high level. Japan is currently Vietnam's leading economic partner, ranking second in labour cooperation, third in investment and tourism cooperation, and fourth in trade cooperation. The two economies have complemented each other, contributing to mutual development.

He noted that with over 5,200 projects and more than 71.5 billion USD in registered capital, Japanese investors are present in almost all regions of Vietnam. They are participating in many strategic projects in such key areas as manufacturing, processing industries, electronics components, research and development, finance, biotechnology, quantum technology, AI, and modern healthcare.
 
Bilateral trade exceeded 40 billion USD in the first 11 months of 2023, with Vietnam importing nearly 20 billion USD worth of goods from Japan. Among its foreign partners, Japan has signed the largest number of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with Vietnam. Meanwhile, there are over 500,000 Vietnamese living, studying, and working in Japan, and vice versa more than 22,000 Japanese citizens are  living, studying, and working in Vietnam.

The Government leader stressed that the upgrade of the Vietnam-Japan relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World has laid an important political foundation to continue expanding cooperation in new areas where both sides have strengths.

He told the forum that Vietnam needs Japan’s further collaboration and support in the industrialisation and modernisation process, financial assistance with preferential interest rates, transfer of advanced technologies, and suggestions for building and improving its institutions, mechanisms, and policies.

PM Chinh proposed Japan assist Vietnam in training high-quality human resources and emphasised the necessity to step up the two sides’ locality-to-locality cooperation, people-to-people exchanges, and cultural collaboration.

He called on Japanese enterprises to continue investing in Vietnam to achieve increasingly better results, as the successes of the investors are also the successes of Vietnam.

Vietnam and Japan ink 30 cooperation documents at joint economic forum

As many as 30 cooperation documents were signed and exchanged by ministries, agencies, localities and businesses of Vietnam and Japan at a joint economic forum held in Tokyo on December 16.

These documents were focused on the fields of infrastructure development of industrial parks, urban areas, commercial centers, green hydrogen production, battery production, energy, finance, digital transformation, and human resource development.

Notably, Secretary of the Thai Binh Provincial Party Committee Ngo Dong Hai awarded an Investment Registration Certificate of Thai Binh LNG thermal power plant project to a consortium of Tokyo Gas, Kyuden Group, and Truong Thanh Group (Vietnam). This is a large-scale project with a design capacity of 1,500 MW and a total investment of nearly US$2 billion.

Among other documents were a cooperation document on infrastructure construction at Van Phong Economic Zone in Khanh Hoa province between Sun Group and Japanese partners, and an MoU on supporting the process of carbon emission reduction and domestic energy transition as well as supporting Japanese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to enter the market between the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank For Industry And Trade (Vietinbank) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

The exchange of the cooperation documents was witnessed by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh who is paying a working trip to Japan for a commemorative summit marking 50 years of the friendship and cooperation between ASEAN and Japan.

Addressing the forum, Chinh emphasized that the recent upgrade of Vietnam – Japan relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership is an important political foundation to further expand bilateral cooperation in new areas where both sides have strengths.

As Vietnam is in the process of national industrialization and modernization, as well as deeper international integration, he said it needs foreign resources, including financial support, advanced technology transfer and modern management experience, and human resource training.

Reviewing the world’s complicated situation, the PM likened Vietnam to a safe haven during the height of the storm and called on Japanese businesses to continue to invest and succeed in Vietnam, emphasizing that investors’ success is also Vietnam’s success.

Nguyen Tan Tuan, chairman of the Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee witnesses Sun Group awarding a construction cooperation agreement at Van Phong Economic Zone with Taisei Group, and investment cooperation agreement in medical and health care facilities with Well Group at Van Phong economic zone.

At the forum, leaders of Japanese ministries, organizations and businesses highly appreciated Vietnam’s development potential and showed their interest in cooperation and investment in the Southeast Asian country in various fields, especially future industries, carbon emissions reduction. They presented orientations and proposals for cooperation and investment in green development and digital transformation in Vietnam in the coming time.

Japan has so far poured over US$71.5 billion into more than 5,200 investment projects in most localities in Vietnam. Their investments were centred on a number of key fields such as production and manufacturing; electronic components; research and development; finance; biotechnology; quantum technology; artificial intelligence; and mew generation health care.

Two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Japan hit more than US$40 billion in the January –November 2023 period. Japan is the partner that has signed the most bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with Vietnam, creating an important foundation to promote trade and investment relations between the two countries.

PM calls for stronger Vietnam-Japan labour cooperation

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended a Vietnam-Japan labour cooperation forum in Tokyo on December 16, as part of his working trip to take part in the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation and bilateral activities.

The forum was co-hosted by the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan.

This year, Vietnam has recorded the highest number of guest workers ever, both in the number of labourers sent annually to Japan, estimated at around 85,000 and the figure of labourers currently working in Japan, standing at over 300,000. Vietnam is also the biggest source of workers sent to and presently working in Japan, among 15 countries sending apprentices and workers to the East Asian country.

Speaking at the event, PM Chinh said the Vietnamese community in Japan with over 500,000 people, more than 300,000 of them are working there and the number has been on the rise, are contributing to Japan’s socio-economic development, becoming bridges fostering close ties between the two countries.

He suggested focusing on recruiting and dispatching workers with skills, qualifications, and a desire to learn in certain Japanese industries of strength such as semiconductor, information technology, automation, biotechnology, agricultural technology, underground water treatment and urban environment, towards building a workforce trained through practical jobs in Japan to contribute to the development of those industries in Vietnam.

Along with the current revision of Japan's legal policies regarding training and reception of foreign labourers, he said Japan should take the lead in training international workforces, including Vietnamese labourers, in order to step up effective, sustainable, and mutually beneficial labour cooperation between the two nations.

He hoped that Japanese agencies, along with the MoLISA and the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, would work together effectively to create the best living and working conditions for Vietnamese workers, minimise potential risks so that they could feel secure when studying, working and complying with the host country's laws, ultimately reducing legal violations in Japan.

The Vietnamese leader also proposed the Japanese Government, competent agencies and localities create favourable conditions and simplify visa procedures, aiming to eventually exempt Vietnamese citizens from entry visas, thus further promoting tourism cooperation between the two countries.

He suggested the early launching of study tourism, caring for and creating favourable conditions for the community of nearly 500,000 Vietnamese living, studying, and working in Japan who will serve as bridges to further deepen the bilateral cooperative relationship.

PM receives leaders of Japan-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Chairman of the Japan - Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance Nikai Toshihiro, Governor of Tokyo Koike Yuriko, and leaders of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) in Tokyo on December 16.

PM Chinh, who has been in Japan to attend the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation and have bilateral activities, suggested Nikai and the alliance's members work to enhance cooperation between the two parliaments and leverage the connecting role of friendship parliamentarians' organisations.

He urged them to promote cooperation between the two countries in labour, human resource training, and such new areas as digital transformation, green transition, high-tech agriculture, and education. Specifically, PM Chinh emphasised the need to effectively implement the Vietnam-Japan University project and support localities’ extensive cooperation aligning with the two countries’ freshly-upgraded comprehensive strategic partnership.

The government leader also called for simplifying procedures towards visa exemptions for Vietnamese citizens entering Japan, thereby strengthening the two sides’ tourism cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

Nikai said he appreciated the elevation of the Vietnam-Japan relations to the comprehensive strategic partnership and affirmed the alliance’s continued support for promoting cooperation with Vietnam, especially in areas with great potential like labour, agriculture, science-technology, energy, and locality-to-locality and people-to-people exchanges. He also promised to report the PM’s visa exemption suggestion to the Japanese Government.

Japanese Minister of Justice Koizumi Ryuji pledged to make greater efforts in his capacity as the Chief of Office of the Japan - Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance to improve policies for Vietnamese guest workers and apprentices in Japan.

Special Advisor of the Japan - Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance Takebe Tsutomu highlighted his commitment to promoting the Vietnam-Japan University project, contributing to the enhancement of Vietnam’s capacity in human resources training.

Governor of Tokyo Koike Yuriko expressed her delight at the increasing exchange of delegations at all levels between Vietnam and Japan this year to mark the 50th founding anniversary of their diplomatic relations.

The Governor said she wants to enhance cooperation between Tokyo and the Vietnam in the fields of delegation exchanges and labour cooperation.

Keidanren President Kubota Masakazu affirmed that Japanese businesses are willing to make contributions to the development of economic ties between the two countries./.VNA