Ambassador Ito Naoki: Japan accompanies Vietnam into a 'new era'

Official welcoming ceremony for Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru's visit to Vietnam on April 28, 2025. (Photo: Embassy of Japan in Vietnam)

After one year of his term in office in Vietnam, Mr. Ito Naoki, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam, shared with readers of VietnamPlus Electronic Newspaper many issues regarding the good cooperative relationship between the two countries.

The following is the content shared by Ambassador Ito Naoki:

It has been exactly one year since I began my term as Ambassador of Japan to Vietnam on May 17 last year. During this time, I have visited nearly 30 provinces and cities, from Cao Bang in the North to Ca Mau in the South. Throughout the country, I have felt the strong vitality spreading throughout society, along with the confidence and expectations of the people about the future of Vietnam.

At the end of April, I had a business trip to Ho Chi Minh City to attend the celebration and parade on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification.

I was especially impressed to see the young people – the future owners of the country – full of enthusiasm, joining in the joyful atmosphere to celebrate the 50th anniversary, singing throughout the night the songs “Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh” and “Continue the story of peace.” I saw the abundant youthful energy, joy at the development of the nation and the spirit of readiness to shoulder the upcoming future.

Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and General Secretary To Lam took a commemorative photo on April 27, 2025. (Photo: Embassy of Japan in Vietnam)

Under the leadership of General Secretary To Lam, Vietnam is accelerating the reform process towards a new era, an era of national growth with the great goal of becoming a developed country by 2045.

I was especially impressed to see the young people – the future owners of the country – full of enthusiasm, joining in the joyful atmosphere to celebrate the 50th anniversary, singing loudly all night long the lyrics “Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh” and “Continue the story of peace.”

Ambassador Ito Naoki

Recently, Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru paid an official visit to Vietnam and held talks with General Secretary To Lam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and other senior leaders. This is a clear demonstration of the deep trust between Japan and Vietnam at the highest leadership level.

The message that Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru sent to Vietnamese leaders was that Japan welcomes Vietnam's reform orientation in the new era, and at the same time, Japan, as an indispensable partner, will promote its strengths and cooperate with Vietnam to promote economic development.

The leaders of Japan and Vietnam identified strategic infrastructure, semiconductors, digital transformation, green transformation, energy, disaster prevention, human resource training and supply chains as pillars of bilateral cooperation in the coming time. These are all key areas in Vietnam's economic growth process.

Aid handover ceremony for areas affected by storm No. 3 at Kim Cuc Primary School, Cao Bang province on April 8-9, 2025. (Photo: Embassy of Japan in Vietnam)

In the semiconductor field, in the next 5 years, the Japanese Government will grant scholarships and receive about 250 doctoral students from Vietnam to study in Japan.

At the Vietnam-Japan University, established by the two countries, the semiconductor training program will officially open from the fall semester this year.

In the field of green transformation and energy, Japan and Vietnam will jointly implement 15 projects with a total scale of up to 20 billion USD, including renewable energy projects such as offshore wind power and LNG thermal power.

As the largest aid donor country, Japan has continuously supported Vietnam's development process over the past 40 years since the Doi Moi policy. The total value of Japan's aid to Vietnam is up to 21.2 billion USD (equivalent to about 3,771 billion Yen).

Ambassador Ito experiences Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Line No. 1 on December 22, 2024. (Photo: Embassy of Japan in Vietnam)

In the coming time, Japan will promote the potential for deeper ODA cooperation in the fields of transport infrastructure such as urban railways, measures to respond to climate change, improving the urban environment such as water environment and enhancing capacity for water police.

Currently, Japan is the third largest investor in Vietnam with a total investment capital of 77.7 billion USD. Annual bilateral trade turnover has also increased 1.8 times in the past 10 years, approaching 50 billion USD.

I believe that Vietnam’s reform efforts are very important to improve the investment environment for businesses and increase investment capital from Japanese businesses. In the context of the increasingly important position of the private economic sector, I hope that this will not only help Japanese businesses but also contribute to strengthening the connection with Vietnamese businesses.

Regarding people-to-people exchanges, there are currently about 630,000 Vietnamese people living in Japan. Japan will continue to make efforts to become an ideal destination for young Vietnamese people to choose to work and contribute to Japan's socio-economic development. In addition, the Japanese Government is implementing a new system called "Employment for Skill Development" to create a favorable working environment for foreign workers.

The official logo announcement ceremony of the Vietnam Exhibition House at the World Exhibition EXPO 2025 on February 26, 2025. (Photo: Embassy of Japan in Vietnam)

At the Osaka Kansai Expo currently taking place in Japan, I learned that the Vietnam Pavilion is very popular with traditional musical instrument performances and water puppetry, attracting a large number of visitors lining up every day. Japan wants to join Vietnam in solemnly celebrating Vietnam National Day (September 9) at the Expo. Through the Expo, I hope that many Vietnamese tourists will visit Japan's scenic spots.

In recent years, when the international geopolitical situation has been volatile, Vietnam has launched many diplomatic initiatives such as organizing the ASEAN Future Forum and the P4G Summit. Japan wishes to closely coordinate so that Vietnam can enhance its position in the international arena and together realize the goal of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

I am extremely proud to assume the position of Ambassador of Japan at a time when Vietnam is reforming and developing strongly. Within the framework of the “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World”, I will continue to make every effort to strengthen the friendly and cooperative relationship between Japan and Vietnam./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/dai-su-ito-naoki-nhat-ban-dong-hanh-cung-viet-nam-buoc-vao-ky-nguyen-moi-post1039663.vnp