President Vo Van Thuong hosted a reception in Hanoi on October 10 for visiting Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Kamikawa Yoko, during which he applauded the guest's contributions to the Vietnam-Japan relations in her different positions over the years.

President Thuong said Japan is Vietnam's leading economic cooperation partner in such areas as official development assistance (ODA), investment, trade, labour, and tourism.

He spoke highly of the two countries' growing locality-to-locality cooperation and people-to-people exchange as nearly 100 pairs of their localities established cooperative relations and the Vietnamese community in Japan reached nearly 500,000 people.

Thuong affirmed that the two countries have many similarities and room to further develop their friendship and cooperation in all fields.

He proposed the two sides continue to promote the exchange of all-level delegations to consolidate and strengthen political trust, focus on boosting economic cooperation, trade, investment, labour, ODA, human resources training, promote locality-to-locality, cultural, tourism, people-to-people exchanges.

He recommended FM Kamikawa pay attention to and urge the Japanese government to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live, study and work in Japan.

FM Kamikawa expressed her impression of the development of Vietnam and Vietnam-Japan relations since she visited the Southeast Asian nation six years ago.

She also expressed her wish that the two countries continue to deepen cooperation in existing areas and expand to new fields such as digital transformation and green transition.

Regarding international and regional issues, Minister Kamikawa affirmed Vietnam plays an important role in Japan's foreign policy in the region, and Japan will continue to coordinate closely with Vietnam at multilateral forums and in international and regional issues of shared interest.

President Thuong affirmed that Vietnam is willing to cooperate closely with Japan to contribute to the success of the ASEAN - Japan Summit that is set to take place in late this year.

Prime Minister receives Foreign Minister of Japan

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Kamikawa Yoko in Hanoi on October 10, highly valuing his guest’s contributions to the two countries’ relations on different posts she has held over the past years.

Congratulating Kamikawa on her appointment as Foreign Minister of Japan, PM Chinh expressed his delight at the increasingly strong, effective, and comprehensive development of the Vietnam-Japan bilateral friendship and cooperation.

He spoke highly of the activities being organised in both countries to mark the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, which have helped enhance mutual understanding between the two peoples, and proposed that both sides promote mutual visits and meetings between their leaders. 

The Government leader called on Japan to assist Vietnam in the building of an independent and self-reliant economy and the implementation of industrialisation and modernisation, while providing new-generation official development assistance (ODA) for large-scale strategic infrastructure projects such as road and railway ones in Vietnam.

Appreciating the Japanese Government’s ODA for Vietnam in the recent past, he said both sides should coordinate closely to accelerate the urban railway projects in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, along with the construction of the HCM City-based Cho Ray Hospital’s second facility. 

The Government of Vietnam will continue perfecting the investment climate, regulations, policies and infrastructure and developing high-quality human resources, he noted, asking the Japanese Government to provide conditions for Vietnamese businesses to engage more deeply in global supply chains of Japan.

The PM also suggested Japan consider simplifying entry procedures for Vietnamese citizens and exempting income and residence taxes for Vietnamese trainees working in the Northeast Asian country. 

 The meeting between PM Pham Minh Chinh and Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko in Hanoi on October 10. (Photo: VNA)
For her part, Kamikawa affirmed Japan’s support for Vietnam to realise the goal of becoming a developed and high-income country by 2045. She also underlined her country’s commitment to strengthen ties in such fields as green transition, digital transformation and climate change response, and encourage Japanese businesses to continue investing in Vietnam.

Stressing the Japanese Government’s priority for cooperation in manpower training with Vietnam, the minister voiced her hope that the two sides will work together to turn the Vietnam - Japan University into a symbol of bilateral relations.

She also highly valued the role and contributions by the nearly 500,000 Vietnamese people in Japan to local socio-economic development, stating that the Japanese Government will continue creating the best possible conditions for the community to live, study, and work in the country.

With regard to international and regional issues, PM Chinh shared his guest’s opinions and suggested that the two countries keep exchanging views and coordinating closely in international and regional issues for the sake of peace, stability, cooperation, and development.

He added that Vietnam supports and will work closely with Japan to ensure success for the ASEAN - Japan commemorative summit in late 2023.

Vietnamese, Japanese foreign ministers hold talks

Vietnamese, Japanese foreign ministers hold talks hinh anh 1
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and his Japanese counterpart Kamikawa Yoko. (Photo: VNA)

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son on October 10 held talks with his Japanese counterpart Kamikawa Yoko during her visit to Vietnam from October 10 - 11.

At the talks, Son welcomed Kamikawa's visit which takes place in the year Vietnam and Japan celebrate the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.

Emphasising the significance of choosing Vietnam as one of the first countries to visit after taking office as Japan’s Foreign Minister on September 13, 2023, Kamikawa affirmed that Japan values and wishes to promote bilateral relations strongly and substantially in all fields.

She suggested the two sides continue to deepen the Vietnam-Japan extensive strategic partnership.

The two FMs reviewed the outstanding achievements of Vietnam - Japan relations over the past 50 years and expressed their delight at remarkable progress in all fields. They discussed directions and measures to maintain the development momentum of the bilateral relationship and elevate it to a new height in the coming time.

The two sides agreed on continued coordination to promote high-level exchanges and contacts, including visits by senior leaders of the two countries.

They also agreed to continue to focus on promoting economic cooperation, local cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and cooperation in new fields.

Minister Son proposed accelerating and effectively implementing new-generation official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam's large-scale strategic infrastructure development projects. He called on Japan to support Vietnamese businesses to join deeply in the global value chain with Japanese partners.

He suggested Japan take measures to create favourable conditions for and simplify procedures in granting visas to Vietnamese citizens, including considering adding Vietnam to the list of countries eligible for e-visa, granting long-term visas (5-10 years) for Vietnamese nationals who have visited Japan multiple times without violating the law, and step by step moving toward visa exemption for Vietnamese citizens.

The Japanese FM affirmed that Japan will increase its support for Vietnam in realising its long-term strategic goals and vision to 2030 - 2045, focusing on revitalising ODA cooperation, with a strategic emphasis on infrastructure development, and expanding investment and trade cooperation.

Japan considers Vietnam important market and partner with great potential, and hopes that Vietnam will continue to improve its investment environment to attract more Japanese investors, and cooperate in new areas such as digital transformation and green energy, as well as high-quality human resources training, she said.

Kamikawa highly appreciated the role and contributions of the Vietnamese community in Japan. She said Japan hopes to increase people-to-people exchanges and will consider facilitating Vietnamese citizens' entry into Japan.

The two sides also discussed recent notable regional and international developments, affirming close coordination to contribute to peace and stability in the region, and continued support for each other at multilateral forums and international organisations.

Party official meets Japanese Foreign Minister

Head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for External Relations Le Hoai Trung on October 10 received visiting Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Kamikawa Yoko in Hanoi.

At the meeting, Trung said the Party, State, and people of Vietnam appreciate Japan's companionship and cooperation during the past time, contributing to Vietnam’s socio-economic development, industrialisation, and modernisation process.

The two sides hailed the good developments in Vietnam - Japan relations which benefit the two countries' peoples and actively contributing to peace, cooperation, and development of the region and the world.

The two sides agreed to coordinate closely to continue to concretise important common perceptions reached during the online talk between General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida in February 2023. They discussed directions to promote cooperation in the coming time, including relations through the party channel, contributing to taking Vietnam-Japan relations to a new stable level. 

The two officials also compared notes on global and regional situations.

Source: VNA