Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh welcomed Prime Minister Ishiba on his first visit to Vietnam as Prime Minister of Japan; thanked Japan for actively supporting Vietnam in overcoming the consequences of the recent Typhoon Yagi as well as in the period of COVID-19 prevention and control.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru.

Prime Minister Ishiba thanked Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the Government and people of Vietnam for their warm and respectful welcome; said that the leadership role of President Ho Chi Minh with his consistent ideology of peace and charity was the key factor for the success of Vietnam's struggle for national liberation and reunification; and shared his deep impressions of Vietnam's development since his visit to Vietnam as a young parliamentarian 35 years ago.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that Vietnam considers Japan one of its most important and trustworthy partners; assessed that the relationship between the two countries has increasingly broad potential for cooperation based on political trust, long-standing people-to-people exchanges and complementary strengths.

Scene of the meeting taking place at the Government headquarters on the morning of April 28.

Expressing gratitude and appreciation for the contributions of ODA loans and investment from Japanese enterprises in Vietnam to Vietnam's socio-economic development in recent times, the Prime Minister shared solutions in the quartet of strategies to implement industrialization and modernization, including breakthroughs in science and technology development, implementing a streamlined apparatus revolution, developing the private economy, building an independent and self-reliant economy, associated with deep, substantial and effective integration.

Prime Minister Ishiba highly appreciated Vietnam's position and role in the region and the world; affirmed that Japan will continue to accompany Vietnam in the new era, supporting Vietnam in socio-economic development, building an independent and self-reliant economy, industrializing, modernizing, and developing science and technology.

In an atmosphere of sincerity, friendship and trust, the two leaders had in-depth and comprehensive discussions on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual concern. The two Prime Ministers expressed their delight at the comprehensive development of the Vietnam-Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership after nearly two years of upgrading to a new framework; and highly appreciated the progress made after two meetings and exchanges between the two Prime Ministers in just nearly one year.

The two sides also exchanged and reached many common perceptions on major directions and measures to bring the bilateral relationship to a new height, entering a new era based on the motto of "sincerity, affection, trust, substance, efficiency, and mutual benefit" in five areas including political relations; economy, human resource connection; security - defense; science and technology, green transformation; and cooperation at multilateral forums.

The two Prime Ministers agreed to continue to enhance political trust through maintaining annual high-level visits and contacts; promote exchanges to soon implement the visit to Vietnam of the Japanese Emperor and Empress, promote regular meetings between the two Prime Ministers, improve the effectiveness of cooperation and dialogue mechanisms; enhance substantive defense and security cooperation, including cooperation in defense technology, addressing the consequences of war, search and rescue, United Nations peacekeeping, cyber security, etc.

The two sides agreed to upgrade the Strategic Partnership Dialogue mechanism at the Deputy Foreign Minister level to the 2+2 Dialogue at the Deputy Foreign Minister - Defense level and hold the first meeting in 2025.

The two Prime Ministers agreed to deepen economic cooperation as the main pillar of the relationship, promote more substantial and sustainable economic links, thereby supporting each other's development in the context of the current difficult international economic situation. The two sides agreed to promote the dynamism of new-generation ODA cooperation for strategic infrastructure projects, and enhance investment and trade cooperation in a substantial, effective and sustainable manner.

Appreciating the progress made in a number of important projects such as Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Line 1, the two sides agreed to accelerate and set specific progress for many projects that are symbolic of the bilateral relationship such as Vietnam - Japan University, Cho Ray Hospital II, as well as projects of the Vietnam Space Center... The two sides agreed to promote high-tech agricultural cooperation associated with ensuring the food supply chain, signing the Medium and Long-term Vision on Agricultural Cooperation for the 2025 - 2030 period in 2025.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that Vietnam is determined to improve the investment and business environment to create conditions for Japanese investors to continue investing and doing business successfully in Vietnam.

Based on the similarities in development strategies based on science and technology and digital transformation, the two Prime Ministers agreed to identify cooperation in science and technology, innovation, and training of high-quality human resources as new pillars of bilateral relations; agreed to promote cooperation in the fields of digital economic development, semiconductors, quantum, nuclear energy, IT, artificial intelligence, green transformation, energy transformation, etc.; agreed to improve the effectiveness of cooperation mechanisms and frameworks on science and technology through organizing the 5th meeting of the Joint Committee on Science and Technology in 2026 and studying the possibility of establishing a new cooperation mechanism on science and technology in the direction of public-private partnership.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed that Japan continue to support Vietnam in training high-quality human resources, enhance cooperation between research and training institutions, scientists and businesses of the two countries; increase the provision of scholarships for Vietnamese students and researchers; and support the community of 70 enterprises and 5,000 IT engineers of Vietnam to actively participate in Japan's IT supply chain and digital transformation process.

Prime Minister Ishiba affirmed that Japan will support joint research projects and PhD training in semiconductors in Vietnam through the Japan-ASEAN Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation Project (NEXUS); announced that Japan wishes to implement 15 projects in the field of energy transition worth more than 20 billion USD within the framework of the Asian Energy Transition Initiative (AETI) and the Asian Net Zero Emission Community (AZEC).

The two Prime Ministers agreed to promote cooperation in responding to natural disasters and climate change, connecting human resources through labor cooperation, local cooperation, cultural exchange, and people-to-people exchange; actively coordinate to organize the Vietnam - Japan Local Forum in Vietnam at the end of 2025; promote cooperation and share experiences in promoting tourism and traditional culture.

To facilitate the Vietnamese community in Japan, the two sides agreed to start negotiations on the Vietnam-Japan Social Insurance Agreement in 2025 and promote the development of a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation on the new labor program "employment for skills development".

Prime Minister Ishiba highly appreciated the contribution and affirmed that he will continue to care for, support and create favorable conditions for the community of more than 600,000 Vietnamese people in Japan. The two sides agreed to continue discussing the simplification of procedures and the expansion of visa issuance to Japan for Vietnamese citizens, aiming at the goal of 2 million tourists visiting each other each year.

Discussing regional and international issues, the two Prime Ministers agreed to continue to closely coordinate at international and regional forums such as ASEAN, Mekong, United Nations, etc. The two sides affirmed the importance of maintaining international order and a free, open, inclusive, rules-based trade system, on the basis of respect for the fundamental principles of international law and the United Nations Charter; affirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability and resolving disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means, on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and soon completing an effective and efficient Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

Prime Minister Ishiba affirmed that Japan will closely coordinate and support Vietnam in successfully organizing APEC 2027 and actively consider sending a representative of the Japanese Government to attend the signing ceremony of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime held in Hanoi in 2025.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh thanked Japan for its active participation in the Partnership for Green Growth and the Global Development Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit; and announced that Vietnam will send a delegation to attend the Vietnam Day activities at the Osaka Kansai International Exhibition 2025.

Source: https://baobacgiang.vn/thu-tuong-pham-minh-chinh-hoi-dam-voi-thu-tuong-nhat-ban-ishiba-shigeru-postid417086.bbg