Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru during his visit to attend the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and related summits in Vientiane (Laos), on the morning of October 11, 2024. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA)

On the occasion of Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and his wife's official visit to Vietnam from April 27-29, VNA reporters in Japan interviewed Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu about the significance of the visit to bilateral relations in the current context.

- Could you please tell us the significance of the visit to the relationship between the two countries at the current stage?

Ambassador Pham Quang Hieu: Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru's visit to Vietnam this time is of great significance, being his first visit to Vietnam after the two countries upgraded their relationship to "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World."

Since Mr. Ishiba became Prime Minister of Japan (October 2024), high-ranking leaders of the two countries have had many contacts, such as Prime Minister Ishiba meeting President Luong Cuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Cooperation Forum (APEC) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summits in October and November 2024, and meeting National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man in Tokyo in December 2025.

Following the above high-level exchanges, Prime Minister Ishiba's visit to Vietnam demonstrates the Japanese Government's respect for Vietnam's role and position in the region.

The visit is not only an opportunity for the two sides to review the cooperation process over the past time, but more importantly, the two sides will have in-depth and substantive exchanges to implement the content of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, strengthen cooperation between the two countries in various fields, especially in economics, trade, investment and new fields such as digital transformation, green transformation, energy, semiconductors, science and technology (science and technology) ..., bringing the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries into a new stage of development in a new era.

Ministries and sectors of the two countries have been closely coordinating, promoting exchanges and signing many documents related to economic fields, ODA, training of high-quality human resources...

In the context of many fluctuations in the regional and world situation, Vietnam-Japan cooperation is increasingly important, actively contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world, for the benefit of the two countries and two peoples.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu said Prime Minister Ishiba's visit demonstrates the Japanese Government's respect for Vietnam's role and position in the region. (Photo: Xuan Giao/VNA)

- Could you please tell us, among the issues of mutual concern to both countries, which issues will be the focus of discussion during Prime Minister Ishiba's visit?

Ambassador Pham Quang Hieu: During this visit, the leaders of the two countries will focus on in-depth discussions on strategic cooperation areas. Japan continues to support and assist Vietnam in implementing three strategic breakthroughs in institutions, infrastructure and human resources, helping Vietnam industrialize and modernize. In particular, economic-trade-investment cooperation is the most important pillar in bilateral relations.

Japan is currently Vietnam's leading economic partner, so issues such as improving the investment environment, promoting supply chains, and expanding markets for each other's goods will be focused on.

The two sides strive to soon open the market for Vietnamese grapefruit and Japanese grapes; at the same time, they discussed the possibility of continuing to open the market for other fruits and agricultural products of the two sides such as Vietnamese passion fruit and Japanese peaches...

In addition, the two sides will discuss new pillars in the cooperation relationship between the two countries, in line with the new situation. Specifically, the two sides will strengthen cooperation in science and technology, digital transformation, green transformation, new energy, etc., and organize cooperation forums co-chaired by the two Prime Ministers related to these fields.

The Politburo has issued Resolution 57 on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation, which is an extremely important strategic decision, guiding Vietnam's development for the next decades, bringing Vietnam firmly into a new era, an era of national growth and prosperity. In particular, Japan's scientific and technological cooperation is valued and prioritized for promotion, especially in the fields of digital transformation, energy, semiconductors, infrastructure, etc.

The two sides will also discuss ways to further strengthen and expand people-to-people exchanges, labor cooperation, and high-quality human resource training. Relevant agencies of the two countries are actively discussing towards signing a cooperation agreement on the new “labor education” system that Japan has approved, expected to be applied from 2027.

The Vietnamese community in Japan has exceeded 600,000 people, the second largest community in Japan and in the world, and continues to increase. The two sides are also striving to increase the number of tourists between the two countries. The two sides will also discuss international and regional situations of mutual concern.

- Besides the issues that the Ambassador just mentioned, according to the Ambassador, in the coming time, what new areas will there be in which the two countries have great room and potential for cooperation?

Ambassador Pham Quang Hieu: In addition to the above-mentioned areas, the two countries will closely coordinate to strengthen cooperation in a number of potential areas such as cooperation in natural disaster prevention, climate change response, environmental protection, emission reduction... In particular, Japan has strengths in the field of renewable energy and disaster response; actively promoting its leading role with many regional initiatives such as AZEC..., supporting Vietnam in developing wind power, solar power and the green energy transition process.

The two countries will discuss the possibility of cooperation to build sustainable and resilient agriculture and contribute to ensuring food security of the two countries.

Cooperation in healthcare and elderly care is also a very potential field in the context of rapid population aging. Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic show that countries, including Vietnam and Japan, need to strengthen coordination to develop public healthcare systems and sustainable supply chains of equipment, supplies, and medicines to respond to future pandemics.

General Secretary To Lam receives Mr. Sugi Ryotaro, former Vietnam-Japan Special Ambassador. (Photo: Van Diep/VNA)

- Finally, could you please tell us what you expect from Mr. Ishiba's visit this time?

Ambassador Pham Quang Hieu: I hope that Prime Minister Ishiba's visit this time will create a strong new momentum for bilateral relations, deepen political trust and close relations between the two countries' senior leaders; and agree on major long-term strategic orientations for developing bilateral relations in the new period.

The visit is expected to achieve many specific results, signing many cooperation documents in various fields, especially science and technology cooperation, green economy, digital economy, sustainable development, strategic infrastructure development including transportation, energy, electricity...

I believe that the visit will contribute to further strengthening the friendship and solidarity between the people of the two countries, creating a solid foundation for the Vietnam-Japan relationship to continue to develop strongly and sustainably, for the benefit of the two peoples, and making a positive contribution to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

- Thank you very much, Ambassador!./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/chuyen-tham-den-viet-nam-cua-thu-tuong-nhat-ban-se-tao-xung-luc-moi-cho-quan-he-song-phuong-post1034724.vnp