Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, launched the Vietnam-Japan cultural space in Hoi An ancient town, the central province of Quang Nam, on November 11.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe launch the Vietnam-Japan cultural space in Hoi An ancient town

The Hoi An commercial port was established in the early 16th century. From the 17th century, Japanese traders came to Hoi An to settle down and set up a Japanese street in the World Cultural Heritage-recorgnised site.

During his visit to Japan in June 2017, PM Phuc stated that Japanese people were the first international entrepreneurs who made significant contributions to bringing Ho An into the cross-border trade system.  

After launching the Vietnam-Japan cultural space, the two PMs witnessed “Chau An thuyen” (Shuinsen), which were Japanese merchant ships bound for Southeast Asian ports with red-sealed letters issued by the early Tokugawa shogunate in the first half of the 17th century. 

The Shuinsen is a symbol of Vietnam-Japan culture. It is a gift from Japan’s Nagasaki prefecture presented to Hoi An city to demonstrate the strong friendship between the two localities and nations over the past 400 years. 

The two PMs also witnessed the daily life and trading activities of local people, and had a dinner at a small restaurant in the town. 

They expressed their pleasure at the strong and comprehensive development of Vietnam-Japan relations with high political trust and increasing high-level delegation exchanges in 2017, including the official visit to Vietnam by PM Abe in January and the official visit to Japan by PM Phuc in June. 

The two sides agreed on orientations and measures to further deepen the bilateral intensive strategic partnership. 

PM Phuc said Vietnam considers Japan a leading and long-term partner, while Abe said he was glad to travel Vietnam for the second time this year and affirmed the Japanese Government will continue supporting Vietnam’s socio-economic development via official development assistance (ODA) and human resources training. 

The two leaders agreed to enhance cooperation in various fields, including energy, agriculture, human resources training, cultural exchanges, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties. 

Phuc highlighted Vietnam’s strong determination to better investment environment for foreign businesses, including those from Japan. He proposed Japan support Vietnam develop automobile industry and hi-tech agriculture. 

They also shared issues of regional and international concern, including the East Sea matter, and affirmed to strengthen coordination at multilateral forums such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and United Nations (UN).-VNA