Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc joined leaders of Japan and the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries at the 10th Mekong-Japan Summit that opened in Tokyo on October 9.

From right: Vietnamese PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, Lao PM Thongloun Sisoulith and Cambodian PM Hun Sen pose for a photo at the 10th Mekong-Japan Summit in Tokyo on October 9

Other leaders at the event are Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, Cambodian PM Hun Sen, Lao PM Thongloun Sisoulith, Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.

At the summit, the leaders are set to discuss measures to promote Mekong-Japan cooperation in line with the regional and global situation so as to contribute to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world.

They will look into recommendations submitted by the 11th Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on the establishment of three new main pillars of the Mekong–Japan cooperation. 

The leaders will also deliberate the Tokyo Strategy 2018 for Mekong-Japan cooperation. With the resolve of Japan and the GMS countries, the summit is expected to create a new landmark in the bilateral cooperation with the approval of the Tokyo Strategy 2018, which will set up orientations for Mekong-Japan cooperation between 2019 and 2021.

So far, Japan and the five GMS nations have convened nine summits and 11 economic ministers’ meetings, reaching many concrete agreements and outcomes.

This time’s summit aims to review the 10-year development of the Mekong-Japan cooperation mechanism and the three-year implementation of the New Tokyo Strategy 2015, which has resulted in notable outcomes in infrastructure building, environmental protection, disaster management, climate change response, and people-to-people exchange.

In 2015, Japan pledged 750 billion JPY in official development assistance (ODA) for the GMS countries to carry out the New Tokyo Strategy 2015 so as to promote the countries’ connectivity through high-quality infrastructure projects.

Japanese media covers talks between Vietnamese, Japanese PMs

Prime Ministers Nguyen Xuan Phuc (front, right) and Shinzo Abe move to the press room after their talks in Tokyo on October 8 

The talks between Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on October 8 have made headlines in the Japanese press.

The Vietnamese leader has been on a visit trip to Japan where he is also attending the 10th Mekong-Japan Summit.

In an article on its website, television station NHK noted the two PMs agreed to enhance cooperation in maintaining maritime security to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

Sankei newspaper quoted PM Phuc as saying at a press conference following the talks that maritime safety will promote cooperation in such fields as high-quality human resources training, high-tech agriculture and disaster prevention.

Regarding the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), NHK said the two leaders agreed to bolster cooperation to promote trade liberalisation and make the CPTPP come into force soon.

Meanwhile, PM Abe stressed that amid growing protectionism, the CPTPP members, including Japan and Vietnam, will push for free and fair trade, according to Sankei.

In other bilateral cooperation aspects, NHK quoted PM Abe as saying Japan and Vietnam will step up cooperation for development in the whole Mekong region as well as the two countries. For his part, PM Phuc said in Vietnam’s development strategy, Japan plays a very important role, and he wants bilateral relations to grow further.

Kyodo news agency reported that with this year marking the 45th anniversary of the countries’ diplomatic ties, Abe pledged to promote people-to-people exchanges as Japan is preparing to introduce a new residence status for foreign workers. Japan also promised up to 1.2 billion JPY in aid to procure equipment to check food safety in Vietnam.