Talks were held between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and PM Shinzo Abe on June 6 in Tokyo, during which they agreed to strengthen political trust, maintain regular high-level visits and contacts, and improve the effectiveness of dialogue mechanisms. 

PM Phuc affirmed that Vietnam consistently regards Japan as a top and long-term economic partner and places great importance on the strategic economic cooperation with Japan.  

He affirmed the Vietnamese Government’s determination to effectively use Japan’s ODA, build a transparent investment environment, create optimal conditions for Japanese investors and properly implement commitments made at the investment promotion conference on June 5. 

PM Abe greatly valued Vietnam’s increasingly important role in the region and the world and pledged to provide strong support for Vietnam’s development with the involvement of Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises, corporations and research institutes.  

Regarding protectionism and anti-globalisation, the Japanese PM pledged that he will work together with his Vietnamese counterpart to propel free trade and investment forward while affirming his nation's willingness to support Vietnam’s hosting of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting set for November in the central city of Danang.

The two leaders underlined the need to augment cooperation in security, defense, UN peacekeeping, the settlement of war consequences, investment, trade, Official Development Assistance, high-tech, and labor. 

They concurred to organize the 4th high-level dialogue on agriculture in 2017 and boost the export of Vietnam’s lychee and longan to Japan and Japan’s orange to Vietnam. 

Both sides discussed regional and international issues of mutual concern and pledge to tighten cooperation in multilateral forums like ASEAN, ASEM, APEC and the UN.

They affirmed closer cooperation to launch action plans of six sectors named in Vietnam’s industrialisation strategy within the Vietnam-Japan cooperation framework until 2020 with a vision to 2030 and speed up the progress of major infrastructure projects such as the North-South Highway, Hoa Lac High-tech Park and urban railway. 

Shinzo Abe assured support for Vietnam to implement a project on improving political system operation and training managerial officials at all levels, particularly those in strategic positions. Japan will initially train 800 Vietnamese master and doctorate degree holders in the next five years. 

The two PMs concurred to foster cultural, sports and people-to-people exchanges while working hand in hand to celebrate the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties in 2018. 

They highlighted the importance of ensuring peace, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea and promoting the settlement of disputes through peaceful means with full respect for diplomatic and legal processes and international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Host and guest witnessed the signing of 14 agreements including an ODA loan worth US$912 million for Vietnam. The two sides released a joint statement on deepening the extensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Japan.

The two leaders then met with the press to inform major outcomes of their talks, during which they emphasized that the two sides reached many important common perceptions aiming deepen the Vietnam-Japan extensive strategic partnership in multiple fields in the time ahead by consolidating mutual political trust, promoting economic ties and closely cooperating with each other in regional and international issues of mutual concern. 

Source: vov.vn