Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru affirmed that Vietnam is an indispensable partner of Japan, emphasizing that Japan will continue to accompany and support Vietnam.

On the afternoon of April 27, at the Party Central Committee Headquarters, General Secretary To Lam met with Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party and Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru on the occasion of Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and his wife's official visit to Vietnam.

On behalf of the Party, State and people of Vietnam, General Secretary To Lam welcomed the visit of Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and the high-ranking delegation of the Japanese Government, which coincided with Vietnam's solemn celebration of the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification; affirming that the visit is of great significance, contributing to opening a new stage of development of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries. General Secretary To Lam congratulated Japan on the opening of the Osaka Kansai International Exhibition 2025.

Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru expressed his joy at visiting Vietnam again after 35 years and for the first time as Prime Minister, at a time when Vietnam is organizing activities to celebrate April 30, and expressed his admiration for President Ho Chi Minh and his impression of Vietnam's national liberation cause.

The Japanese Prime Minister thanked the Party, State, people of Vietnam and General Secretary To Lam personally for their warm feelings and respectful and friendly reception for the delegation.

At the meeting, General Secretary To Lam shared about the two development goals until 2030, the 100th anniversary of the Party's founding, and 2045, the 100th anniversary of the country's founding, the strategy of economic model innovation for rapid and sustainable growth in the new era, the era of the Vietnamese people's rise, as well as measures to achieve these goals, including making breakthroughs in science and technology development and streamlining the apparatus.

Regarding foreign affairs, Vietnam persistently pursues a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development, multilateralization and diversification, promoting increasingly deep and effective relations with partners, in which Japan is considered one of the leading and long-term strategic partners.

Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru expressed his impression and congratulated Vietnam on its achievements in socio-economic development; highly appreciated Vietnam's policy of entering a new era with an orientation towards economic, scientific and technological development, the positive results of Vietnam's apparatus streamlining under the direction of General Secretary To Lam, as well as Vietnam's proactiveness and positivity in the context of complicated developments in the international and regional situation; believed that Vietnam would continue to gain many new and greater achievements in the new era and affirmed that Japan is ready to accompany Vietnam on its development path.

Emphasizing that the exchange and connection between the two countries has a history of more than 1,300 years, General Secretary To Lam expressed his joy that the Vietnam-Japan relationship continues to develop well and comprehensively in all fields with high political trust, especially after the two countries upgraded the framework to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, vibrant high-level exchanges, cooperation in fields from economy, connecting human resources, labor, education and training, cooperation in new fields such as green transformation, digital transformation..., local, cultural and people-to-people exchanges are increasingly deepened.

The General Secretary proposed seven major orientations to enhance strategic cooperation between the two countries, including continuously enhancing political trust, consolidating substantive and effective security and defense cooperation; enhancing economic cooperation on the basis of science, technology and high-quality human resources; and asking Japan to actively participate in key infrastructure projects through new-generation ODA capital.

Emphasizing the need to identify scientific, technological and innovation cooperation as a new pillar in bilateral relations, General Secretary To Lam suggested that the two countries strengthen cooperation in science and technology, innovation, digital transformation and training of high-quality human resources.

The General Secretary also suggested that the two sides exploit new potentials in labor cooperation, green transformation, energy transformation, high-tech agriculture; deepen local cooperation, people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru affirmed that Vietnam is an indispensable partner of Japan, emphasizing that Japan will continue to accompany and support Vietnam in building an independent and self-reliant economy, implementing industrialization and modernization, and implementing strategic goals and socio-economic development plans in the new era of development; closely coordinating to bring the Vietnam-Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership into a new stage, including promoting and strengthening party-channel cooperation between the Liberal Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru affirmed that Japan will deepen economic cooperation, ODA, investment, enhance security-defense cooperation, cyber security, peacekeeping, culture, people-to-people exchange, promote cooperation in new areas such as digital transformation, innovation, quantum, semiconductors; agree to support the training of high-quality human resources in Japan and at the Vietnam-Japan University, a symbol of cooperation between the two countries.

The Japanese Prime Minister affirmed to continue to support and create favorable conditions for the community of more than 600,000 Vietnamese people living, studying and working in Japan. Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru said that Japan will send a delegation to attend the World Police Music Festival organized by the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security.

Also at the meeting, General Secretary To Lam and Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru discussed and agreed to closely coordinate at regional and international forums such as the United Nations and ASEAN in the context of the rapidly changing and complex international situation, thereby making practical contributions to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

On this occasion, General Secretary To Lam respectfully invited the Japanese Emperor and Empress to visit Vietnam soon. Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru respectfully invited the General Secretary and his wife to visit Japan in the near future./.