Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Chairman of the Council for the Promotion of Japanese People's Diplomacy Matsuzawa Ken. (Photo: Nhat Bac)

"6 more things" for Vietnam-Japan relations to have a new breakthrough

Receiving Chairman of the Japan People's Council for the Promotion of Diplomacy (FEC) Matsuzawa Ken, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that in recent years, there have been many rich and effective activities, contributing to promoting the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Japan. FEC has sent economic, educational and cultural survey delegations to Vietnam; conducted investment and trade promotion activities between the two countries; supported human resource development for Vietnam; met and exchanged with delegations from Vietnam visiting Japan; and actively supported the activities of the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan.

Mr. Matsuzawa Ken said that the Council and the people of Japan were very pleased to welcome Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh; highly appreciated Vietnam's strong role in ASEAN and the region, attracting the world's attention in the fields of politics, economics, and diplomacy, and at the same time, international friends also know about Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's dynamic and positive activities.

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FEC Chairman Matsuzawa Ken was pleased to see that the Vietnam-Japan relationship has developed positively and well in recent times, with the two countries working together, sharing joys and sorrows, learning from each other, and making positive contributions to peace, stability, and development in the region and the world. He believes that the Prime Minister's visit will be extremely successful, continuing to promote and contribute to the Vietnam-Japan relationship in the coming time.

Reviewing the milestones and major achievements in 50 years of Vietnam-Japan relations with many remarkable advances, the Prime Minister said that there are "6 more things" in Vietnam-Japan relations. (Photo: Nhat Bac)

He agreed with the Prime Minister's view that the most important thing is to take action, bringing practical and effective benefits. The delegates attending the meeting were all businesses that have invested in Vietnam or are looking to invest in Vietnam and in the coming time, based on the Prime Minister's direction, the Council will further promote investment activities, cooperation and economic linkages with Vietnam.

Speaking at the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was delighted to meet again with Chairman Matsuzawa Ken. The Prime Minister welcomed the FEC for always paying deep attention to Vietnam, making many practical and effective contributions to the development of bilateral relations, bringing benefits to the people of both countries, creating an environment of peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

The Prime Minister informed that during his official visit to Japan last November, President Vo Van Thuong and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio jointly issued a Statement on upgrading the Vietnam-Japan relationship to "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World", opening a new page in the Vietnam-Japan friendship and cooperation to develop strongly, effectively and comprehensively with a vision for the next 50 years.

Reviewing the milestones and great achievements in 50 years of Vietnam - Japan relations with many remarkable advances, the Prime Minister said there are "6 things better": Deeper affection; more clearly felt sincerity; higher trust; more effective and substantial; cooperation increasingly expanding in scope and scale; understanding and loving each other more.

The head of the Vietnamese Government asked the Council, people and businesses of Japan to continue supporting and accompanying Vietnam. (Photo: Duong Giang)

Regarding specific figures, the Prime Minister said that Japan continues to be Vietnam's leading economic partner, the largest ODA provider, the second largest labor cooperation partner, the third largest investor and tourism partner, and the fourth largest trade partner of Vietnam. In particular, with over 5,200 projects and over 71.5 billion USD in registered capital, Japanese investors are present in most localities of Vietnam, participating in many strategic projects in a number of key areas.

In the coming time, the Prime Minister said that both sides need to continue educating the young generations of the two countries to constantly preserve and promote the friendship, which is a priceless asset between the two peoples; promote what has been done, learn from what has not been done; concretize the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership into specific programs, plans and projects, thereby bringing about measurable results, consolidating sincerity, affection, trust, and bringing the relationship between the two countries to become increasingly deeper, more substantial and more effective.

The Head of the Vietnamese Government requested the Council, the people and Japanese enterprises to continue to support and accompany Vietnam in the cause of industrialization and modernization of the country; to carry out 3 strategic breakthroughs (building and perfecting institutions; building modern and synchronous infrastructure; training and developing high-quality human resources), specifically calling for more investment capital with better incentives, cooperating in research and transferring high technology, training human resources, cooperating in labor, improving management capacity in a modern direction, and giving opinions on building institutions, policies and regulations.

ODA cooperation is an important content in Vietnam-Japan relations.

Receiving President of the Japan International Development Agency Tanaka Akihiko and leaders of JICA, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked JICA to continue to pay attention to and study the provision of new-generation ODA in the form of budget support for Vietnam to develop strategic infrastructure projects.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his appreciation for the important contributions of JICA as well as the Chairman himself in implementing ODA projects in Vietnam in recent times; saying that the Vietnamese government and people are very interested and always make efforts to seriously and effectively implement ODA loans.

JICA President Tanaka Akihiko was delighted to meet Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh again, especially after Vietnam and Japan upgraded their relationship to “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World”. He was delighted that during Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s working trip to Japan, new Official Development Assistance (ODA) cooperation agreements between the two countries were signed.

The Prime Minister thanked JICA for coordinating with Vietnam to effectively implement procedures for the new generation ODA loan of 50 billion yen (351.4 million USD) and ODA projects in recent times, making Japan the number 1 ODA provider for Vietnam, contributing to the vibrant ODA cooperation between the two countries.

Considering ODA cooperation as an important economic link between the two countries, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh suggested that JICA coordinate more closely with Vietnamese ministries, sectors and localities to concretize the relationship of "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World" between Vietnam and Japan through specific programs and projects, with a more specific and effective roadmap.

JICA President said that he will closely coordinate with Vietnamese ministries, sectors and localities to implement cooperation according to the priorities mentioned by the Prime Minister. (Photo: Nhat Bac)

Among them, Japan continues to pay attention to and study the provision of new-generation ODA in the form of budget support for Vietnam to develop strategic infrastructure projects, especially large-scale transport infrastructure projects such as railways, highways, seaports, airports, etc.

Along with that, support Vietnam to develop new fields such as Digital Transformation, Green Transformation, semiconductor industry, innovation, enhance labor cooperation, healthcare, education, environmental protection, improve people's quality of life...

Expressing his thanks and agreeing with the opinions of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the JICA President said that he will closely coordinate with Vietnamese ministries, branches and localities to implement cooperation according to the priorities mentioned by the Prime Minister; hoping that the Vietnamese side will coordinate to jointly resolve any problems arising in the implementation of specific projects.