Vietnam, Japan seek ways to deepen strategic partnership

On the evening of May 31, President Tran Dai Quang held talks and attended a banquet welcoming him and his delegation in Tokyo, hosted by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

At the talks, the two leaders compared notes on and expressed their elation at Vietnam-Japan relations, which they said, are at the most flourishing period during the 45 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations. Both sides have many similarities in strategic interests and have enjoyed fast-developing relations across multiple fields.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described State President Tran Dai Quang's visit to Japan as a very important political event in the relationship between Vietnam and Japan, adding that his nation highly rates Vietnam’s achievements in socio-economic development and its increasingly important role in the region and in the world, and attaches great importance to Vietnam's foreign policy.

President Tran Dai Quang thanked the Japanese royal family, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Government of Japan for their special reception while affirming that Vietnam consistently considers Japan as a leading and long-term partner. He praised Japan for its effective cooperation and assistance given to Vietnam in many aspects and shared the economic success of Japan through the Abenomics economic policy.

Host and guest concurred to continue consolidating their political trust by maintaining high-level exchange visits and contacts, stepping up cooperation and exchanges between the two ruling parties and legislative bodies.

The two sides welcomed the strong development of economic cooperation between the two countries over recent years, agreed to continue promoting economic cooperation in the spirit of mutual benefit, Japanese investments in Vietnam, and affiliation in major projects with a focus on high-quality infrastructure, energy, training of human resources, climate change adaptation and the implementation of Vietnam's industrialization strategy. They agreed to boost trade to facilitate Vietnamese seafood and fruits such as lychee, longan easily entering the Japanese market.

PM Shinzo Abe told Quang that his nation will continue support Vietnam in socio-economic development through providing development assistance as well as speeding up high-quality infrastructure projects. Japan pledges to provide another ODA worth 16 billion JPY (US$142 million) for Vietnam’s vocational training capacity improvement project.

President Quang applauded contributions of Japanese ODA to Vietnam’s socio-economic development and the improvement of the country’s competitiveness. He suggested the two countries should coordinate closely in using the resource.

Both sides are in agreement to step up cooperation in security and defence as well as in implementing the declaration on joint vision in defence cooperation between the two countries.

They will augment cooperation in diverse areas such as cyber security, defence equipment, military medicine, UN peace-keeping operations, war consequence settlement through landmine clearance and support of Agent Orange/dioxin victims in Vietnam, improve the capacity of law enforcement at sea, and share  experience on maritime policy.

The two sides lauded the launch of negotiations for an agreement on mutual criminal legal support and another on transfer of sentenced persons.

Vietnam and Japan concurred to boost coordination in education, human resources training, agriculture, health care, labour, urban building and development, administrative reform, and partnership among localities.

PM Shinzo Abe pledged to assist Vietnam in high-ranking official training, administrative reform, while continuing receiving skilled apprentices from Vietnam.

The leaders affirmed that the two countries would join hands in organising  celebratory activities for the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties, as well as  intensifying culture, sport and people-to-people exchanges, towards further deepening mutual trust and understanding between their people 

They stressed that this is an important foundation for sustainable development of the Vietnam-Japan relations in the future.

President Quang asserted Vietnam’s unwavering policy of actively coordinating with international partners as a contribution to maintaining peace, stability and cooperation in the region and the world. 

The two sides agreed to increase their coordination at global and regional forums in the issues of their common concern. 

Regarding the Korean Peninsula issue, they affirmed the support for efforts for peace, stability and denuclearization in the peninsula, and stressed the importance to resolve disagreements by diplomatic and peaceful measures. 

Concerning the East Sea issue, the two leaders emphasized the importance of ensuring peace, security, navigation and aviation freedom and safety in the sea, and the peaceful settlement of disputes by peaceful means without the use of force or threat to use force, exercising self-restraint and avoiding all actions that would harm trust, and strictly complying with international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). 

They also underscored the need to respect diplomatic and legal processes, fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and strive to reach a framework of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in a practical and effective manner with legal effectiveness.

After the talks, President Tran Dai Quang and PM Shinzo Abe witnessed the signing of four documents between the two countries’ ministries and sectors. 

They include a diplomatic note on a non-refundable aid worth 745 million JPY (equivalent to US$6.77 million ) for human resources development scholarships; a diplomatic note on a non-refundable aid worth 1.96 billion JPY (US$17.8 million) for the upgrade of downgraded water drainage ditches in Ho Chi Minh City; a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in land and water resource management, measurement, mapping and information on geographical space, hydro-metrology and remote sensing between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan; and the minutes on cooperation on urban construction and development in the 2018-2021 between Vietnam’s Ministry of Construction and Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

PM Abe and President Quang also had a meeting with the media to inform about the outcomes of their talks in Tokyo the same day.