Vietnam - Japan relations are a model of effective and sincere cooperation.

Upgrade relationship

Within the framework of the official visit to Japan, on November 27, 2023, at the Japanese Prime Minister's Office, President Vo Van Thuong and his wife attended the official welcoming ceremony, held talks, delivered a joint press statement and attended a solemn reception hosted by Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and his wife.

In an atmosphere of friendship, cordiality and trust, President Vo Van Thuong and Prime Minister Kishida reviewed the bilateral relationship over the past 50 years and expressed satisfaction with the strong, comprehensive and substantive development in all areas of bilateral relations with high political trust, close ties in the fields of economy, human resources and local cooperation.

President Vo Van Thuong said that the Vietnam-Japan relationship is a typical model of effective and sincere cooperation, with great potential and prospects. On that basis, the two leaders agreed to upgrade the bilateral relationship to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World”.

On the basis of the new relationship framework, the two leaders had an in-depth exchange of views on Vietnam-Japan relations, and agreed on major directions and measures to deepen bilateral cooperation, opening a new period of stronger and more extensive development, meeting the common needs and interests of both countries and contributing to peace and stability in the region and the world.

The two leaders agreed to increase annual high-level exchanges and contacts in various flexible forms, through the channels of the Party, State, Government, and National Assembly; continue to effectively implement existing cooperation dialogue mechanisms between ministries and sectors of the two countries and promote the establishment of new cooperation mechanisms; and enhance substantive and effective cooperation in the defense field on the basis of the Joint Vision Statement on Vietnam-Japan Defense Cooperation.

President Vo Van Thuong and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio hold a press conference after their talks. Photo: VNA

Promoting new generation ODA loans

Regarding economic cooperation, the two leaders agreed to continue strengthening economic ties between the two countries, promoting cooperation to ensure economic security and expanding cooperation in new areas such as innovation, technology transfer, digital transformation, green transformation, etc.

Prime Minister Kishida affirmed to continue supporting Vietnam in industrialization and modernization, building an independent, self-reliant economy, and deeply integrating into the world with the goal of becoming a developed country by 2045.

Emphasizing that Japanese enterprises consider Vietnam an important base for cooperation to ensure supply chains and the most promising investment destination in ASEAN countries, Prime Minister Kishida suggested that the two sides coordinate to improve efficiency and remove obstacles to speed up the implementation of cooperation projects using Japanese ODA and FDI in Vietnam.

Appreciating the contribution of Japanese ODA capital to Vietnam's socio-economic development, President Vo Van Thuong suggested that Japan actively consider providing Vietnam with new-generation ODA loans focusing on large-scale strategic infrastructure development projects in Vietnam (roads, railways, energy, etc.), digital transformation, climate change response, and healthcare; promote large-scale investment by Japanese enterprises in Vietnam and technology transfer in technology fields; strengthen high-quality agricultural cooperation, create favorable conditions for Vietnamese aquatic products and fruits to enter Japan, including early opening of the market for green-skin pomelos and then Vietnamese passion fruit.

To enhance mutual understanding and trust between the people of the two countries, contributing to the sustainable and long-term development of the Vietnam-Japan cooperative relationship, the two leaders agreed to strengthen human resource connectivity, local cooperation, tourism, cultural exchange, and people-to-people exchange.

President Vo Van Thuong proposed considering holding an annual “Local Cooperation Forum” in rotation in localities of the two countries; hoping that Japan will continue to support Vietnam in training high-quality human resources, loosen entry procedures, soon issue e-visas and multiple-entry visas for Vietnamese citizens entering Japan for personal purposes, and move towards visa exemption for Vietnamese citizens.

In the context of the rapidly and complicated developments in the regional and world situation, the two sides affirmed to continue to closely coordinate on regional and international issues of mutual concern, actively contributing to maintaining peace, stability and development in the region and the world; supporting each other at multilateral forums, international and regional organizations such as the United Nations, APEC, ASEAN, OECD, RCEP, CPTPP, etc.

Prime Minister Kishida affirmed his support for Vietnam to host APEC Year 2027, and for Vietnam and Asian countries to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. President Vo Van Thuong affirmed that Vietnam will actively cooperate and contribute to the success of the Summit to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Japan relations in December.

Signing of cooperation documents

After the talks, the two leaders issued a Joint Statement on upgrading Vietnam-Japan relations to “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World”, and witnessed the signing of cooperation documents between ministries and sectors of the two countries, including:

Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of energy conversion between the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan,

Diplomatic note on project exchange to improve capacity for preservation and restoration of cultural heritage of Vietnam National Museum of History,

Diplomatic note on exchanging projects to enhance health recovery capacity and ensure health security during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam,

Non-project Providing equipment for the Coast Guard Training and Professional Development Center,

Agreement between the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on supporting the operation of the Vietnam Space Center and effectively exploiting the LOTUSat-1 satellite in the 2024-2029 period.

At the same time, on this occasion, the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) of Japan sent the two leaders the Policy Advisory Report "Vietnam 2045".

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