Key highlights of the past half-century

In an interview with the press before the visit of President Vo Van Thuong and his wife to Japan, Permanent Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Vu emphasized that this is a significant event marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, with many important meanings.

Chủ tịch nước và Phu nhân thăm chính thức Nhật Bản: Điểm nhấn quan trọng cho quan hệ nửa thế kỷ

Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu stated that President Vo Van Thuong and his wife's official visit to Japan is a significant highlight event marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Could the Deputy Minister please explain the significance and importance of President Vo Van Thuong's official visit to Japan?

This is the first official visit to Japan by President Vo Van Thuong, taking place on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan (September 21, 1973 - September 21, 2023).

During the visit, the President is scheduled to meet with the Emperor and Empress of Japan, hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, deliver a policy speech at the Japanese Parliament, meet and exchange views with parliamentary leaders and representatives from the political, economic, scientific, and cultural sectors, and visit Fukuoka Prefecture.

This visit is a significant highlight marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, with three main meanings:

Firstly , the visit will elevate bilateral relations to a new level by promoting more substantive and effective cooperation in all areas, from politics, economics, trade, investment, defense and security to local cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, while also expanding into new areas of cooperation that are in the best interests of both sides.

Secondly , the visit contributed to strengthening political trust and enhancing close exchanges between the high-level leaders of the two countries. With this visit, all four key Vietnamese leaders had already exchanged views and met with Japanese leaders in 2023. From the beginning of the year until now, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong held a telephone conversation (March 2023), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held talks with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio (May 2023), and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue held talks with the President of the Japanese Upper House, Otsuji Hidehisa (September 2023).

Thirdly , in the context of the rapidly changing and complex international and regional situation, the visit reaffirms Vietnam's foreign policy of continuing to consider Japan as a leading and long-term important partner, and its desire to work with Japan to leverage shared interests for the development of each country as well as in maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region.

Given the significance and importance mentioned above, I am confident that the official visit to Japan by President Vo Van Thuong and his wife will be a great success, contributing to the strong, substantive, and comprehensive development of multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Japan in all fields in the coming time.

Fifty years after the establishment of diplomatic relations, Vietnam - Japan relations have achieved many successes. According to the Deputy Minister, how will this visit open a new chapter for cooperation between the two countries?

It can be affirmed that cooperation between Vietnam and Japan is currently in its best and closest phase in history , bearing fruit and achieving great successes in all fields.

The two countries have always regarded each other as reliable partners, closely linked in many areas including politics, security and defense, economics, culture, education and training, tourism, and human resource cooperation, with economic cooperation being a highlight and achieving many outstanding results.

Japan is currently Vietnam's largest provider of ODA (approximately US$30 billion), its second-largest partner in labor cooperation, its third-largest in tourism and investment, and its fourth-largest trading partner. The two countries are also strengthening cooperation in emerging areas such as innovation, science and technology, digital transformation, green transformation, energy, and climate change response.

Local cooperation, cultural exchange, and people-to-people exchanges have made positive progress. On international forums such as ASEAN, APEC, and the United Nations, the two countries always cooperate closely, support each other, and work together to address international and regional issues of common concern.

Based on close and extensive cooperation in those areas, I believe that President Vo Van Thuong's visit will contribute to further deepening the friendly cooperative relationship between Vietnam and Japan in the following areas:

To deepen political trust and enhance contact and exchange between high-level leaders of the two countries and leaders of ministries, departments, and localities with their Japanese counterparts.

Continuing to build economic cooperation as the main pillar of the bilateral relationship through enhanced cooperation in investment, ODA, trade, labor, human resource training, etc., will help Vietnam implement its three strategic breakthroughs: industrialization, modernization, building an independent and self-reliant economy, and comprehensive and deep integration into the international community.

Vietnam hopes that the two countries will effectively implement the new generation ODA program, continue to promote cooperation in attracting Japanese ODA loans in infrastructure, climate change response, and human resource training; promote investment cooperation and attract new generation, high-quality investment from Japanese businesses; continue to maintain the sustainable growth of bilateral trade; coordinate to improve the efficiency of utilizing and implementing economic agreements between the two sides or between two countries that are both members, such as WTO, APEC, CPTPP, RCEP, AJCEP...; and strengthen cooperation in labor and human resource training, especially high-quality human resources.

Promoting cooperation in new areas such as information technology, innovation, green transformation, digital transformation, and climate change response...

Promoting and deepening cooperation at the local level, in tourism, cultural exchange, and people-to-people exchanges will enhance mutual understanding and affection between the people of Vietnam and Japan, helping to build a solid foundation for effective cooperation in various fields between the two countries.

Strengthening close coordination at multilateral forums, international and regional organizations such as the United Nations, APEC, ASEAN, Mekong...