On the morning of November 25, in Quang Ninh , Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the first Vietnam - Japan Local Cooperation Forum with the theme: "Accompanying comprehensive development - Creating a sustainable future".
Also attending the Forum were comrade Le Hoai Trung, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Foreign Affairs ; leaders of ministries, branches, localities and agencies of Vietnam; on the Japanese side were Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Vietnam to Japan Ito Naoki, Special Advisor to the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Alliance Takebe Tsutomu, leaders and representatives of provinces, cities, organizations, associations and business communities of the two countries.
Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae sent a congratulatory message to the Forum.
With the theme "Accompanying comprehensive development - Creating a sustainable future", attracting the largest number of delegates representing Japanese localities ever, the first Vietnam - Japan Local Cooperation Forum is the first large-scale event to strengthen the connection between Vietnamese and Japanese localities, carried out according to the agreement between the Prime Ministers of the two countries during the official visit to Vietnam by the Japanese Prime Minister in April 2025.
The event is even more meaningful as it is held exactly two years after the two countries upgraded their relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World (November 2023 - November 2025), and is also the first national-level international cooperation event between Vietnamese localities and a partner country after Vietnam officially completed the arrangement of administrative units, merged provinces/cities and applied the two-level local government model from July 1, 2025.
Japanese Prime Minister: Vietnam - Japan "co-create" a sustainable future
In his message to the Forum, Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae sent his most sincere congratulations to the first Vietnam - Japan Local Cooperation Forum, which was solemnly held for the first time, hoping that through this forum, the cooperation between Japan and Vietnam will become increasingly deeper.
The Japanese Prime Minister welcomed the upgrading of the Japan-Vietnam relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2023, as well as the growing cooperation in all areas such as people-to-people exchange, economy, culture, security, and local exchanges.
Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae stated that Japan will continue to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in the reform process to achieve further economic growth; he believes that the experience and know-how that Japanese local governments have painstakingly cultivated over many years in areas such as regional revitalization, industrial promotion, tourism development and human resource training will become a strength for Vietnam.
"The vitality of localities is the vitality of the nation. The dynamism and youthful energy of Vietnamese localities are expected to bring new perspectives and encouragement to Japanese localities, while contributing to Japan's own local revitalization. I believe that we can together create a sustainable future in the spirit of 'co-creation'," the Japanese Prime Minister expressed.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung assessed that the Forum brought with it a new mindset, new vitality, new expectations, opening up a larger, more flexible and more effective space for cooperation between Vietnamese localities and enterprises with Japanese partners in the new era of development, actively contributing to the implementation of Resolution 59 of the Politburo on international integration in the new situation.
Local cooperation between the two countries is increasingly close with more than 110 memorandums of understanding on cooperation between localities of the two countries, an effective channel, contributing significantly to the development of the Vietnam - Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
The Minister believes and hopes that this Forum will be a place for localities and businesses of the two countries to exchange frankly and substantially, learn about the advantages, potentials and strengths of each side, thereby connecting and building many new projects and cooperation opportunities, as well as new relationships, suitable for the interests of both sides, especially in the fields of investment, trade, labor, tourism, culture, science and technology development, innovation, digital transformation, green transformation, climate change response, population aging issues...
From the historical foundation of people-to-people exchange of more than 1,300 years
Speaking at the Forum, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed his delight at joining leaders of localities, businesses and organizations of Japan and Vietnam in attending the first Vietnam-Japan Local Cooperation Forum in Quang Ninh province.
The Prime Minister sent greetings and best wishes from General Secretary To Lam and the Vietnamese Government to the delegates attending the Forum; on behalf of the Forum, he thanked General Secretary To Lam and Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae for their attention and direction; and sent condolences to people in localities affected by floods.
On behalf of the Vietnamese Government, the Prime Minister warmly welcomed and applauded the attendance of leaders of nearly 50 localities from Japan and Vietnam, representatives of ministries, sectors and businesses of the two countries at this important and meaningful event.
The Prime Minister highly appreciated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its close coordination with the Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee and the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam in organizing this Forum; and thanked the active participation of localities, businesses and socio-economic organizations of the two countries. This is the first large-scale event to promote local cooperation between Vietnam and Japan and is an important step to continue implementing the agreement between the two countries during the official visit to Vietnam by former Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru in April this year.
The Prime Minister welcomed the Forum's theme "Accompanying Comprehensive Development - Creating a Sustainable Future" as having very practical and strategic significance, clearly demonstrating the spirit of sincerity, affection, trust, efficiency, win-win cooperation, accompanying development, and creating a future for peace, stability and prosperity of both countries, so that the bilateral relationship will increasingly blossom and bear fruit.
Regarding the Vietnam-Japan cooperation relationship, the Prime Minister said that with a history of more than 1,300 years of people-to-people exchange and more than half a century of establishing diplomatic relations (since 1973), Vietnam and Japan have together cultivated a friendly and cooperative relationship that is increasingly trustworthy, comprehensive, substantive and effective. Up to now, Japan has become Vietnam's leading economic cooperation partner, ranking first in ODA and labor cooperation, third in investment and fourth in trade and tourism.
The Prime Minister summarized that after 2 years of upgrading the relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the relationship between the two countries has had many strong developments, demonstrated through 6 highlights.
Accordingly, the two sides have raised the level and established many new dialogue mechanisms in traditional cooperation areas such as diplomacy, defense, security, labor, etc., consolidating and enhancing trust between the two sides.
Economic ties between the two countries continue to be strengthened, especially in the fields of infrastructure, education, health, industry, technology transfer and human resource training; at the same time, cooperation continues to expand into new fields such as digital transformation, green transformation, etc.
Scientific and technological cooperation is identified as a new pillar of bilateral relations, opening up new cooperation space in innovation, semiconductors, energy, etc.
Bilateral relations have achieved very positive growth in a number of important cooperation indicators such as two-way trade turnover increasing by over 20%, investment capital from Japan to Vietnam increasing by over 8 billion USD, the number of Vietnamese people in Japan increasing by over 20%, and more than 10 local pairs signing many new cooperation documents.
In addition to the investment flow from Japan to Vietnam, more and more Vietnamese localities and enterprises are proactively investing and expanding operations in Japan, especially in the fields of digital transformation, trade, tourism, healthcare and labor connections.
"Political trust is growing, economic cooperation is becoming deeper and more effective, people-to-people exchange is increasingly strong, and people and businesses of the two countries are benefiting from the results of the cooperative relationship," the Prime Minister stated.
On this occasion, the Prime Minister sincerely thanked and highly appreciated the valuable contributions of Japanese localities and enterprises to the above-mentioned cooperation results, as well as to the socio-economic development of Vietnam in recent times.
"It can be affirmed that local cooperation and business cooperation are unique features of the Vietnam - Japan relationship, a practical and effective connection channel, contributing to the implementation and concretization of the agreement between the two countries' senior leaders," said the head of the Vietnamese Government.
Vietnam is in a strong state of transformation.
Regarding the situation in Vietnam, the Prime Minister said that after 80 years of construction and development, 40 years of Renovation, from a country besieged, isolated, devastated by war, Vietnam today is among the top 32 economies in the world, among the top 20 countries with the largest trade scale in the world, participating in 17 free trade agreements (FTAs) with 60 partner economies, establishing diplomatic relations with 194 countries; GDP per capita increased nearly 50 times compared to when Renovation began.
The macro economy is stable, inflation is controlled, major balances of the economy are guaranteed; growth is promoted, GDP in 2025 is expected to reach over 8% despite many difficulties, especially natural disasters and historic storms and floods. Despite slow global growth, high inflation, and reduced circulation of goods between countries, Vietnam's import-export scale is still expected to reach 900 billion USD.
National defense and security are maintained; social order, safety and social security are guaranteed; people's lives are constantly improved, and the happiness index has increased 37 places in the past 5 years according to the United Nations rankings.
Entering a new era of development, Vietnam is determined to remove bottlenecks and bottlenecks in institutions, human resources and infrastructure, focusing on clearing, mobilizing and effectively using all resources, promoting economic restructuring associated with growth model innovation, taking science - technology, innovation and digital transformation as breakthrough development drivers, contributing to realizing the double-digit growth target from 2026, bringing the country into an era of strong, civilized, prosperous development, firmly moving towards socialism, becoming a developed country with high income by 2045.
Accordingly, Vietnam has issued and implemented many breakthrough policies in areas such as science and technology, innovation and digital transformation; international integration in the new situation; innovation in law making and enforcement; private economic development; ensuring national energy security; education and training development; strengthening protection, care and improvement of people's health. At the same time, it will continue to issue policies in other important areas of state economic development, FDI economy, cultural development, etc. to develop the country quickly, comprehensively, inclusively and sustainably.
Regarding improving Vietnam's investment and business environment, the Prime Minister said that the Vietnamese Government continues to focus on resolutely and synchronously implementing the following groups of solutions in the spirit of "3 smarts": "open institutions, smooth infrastructure, smart governance and human resources".
Specifically, creating institutional breakthroughs with the spirit of "turning institutions from bottlenecks into national competitive advantages", "institutions are the driving force, resources, going first, going ahead to pave the way for development" through innovating processes and methods of law-making, urgently building legal corridors, and encouraging the development of projects in new, high-tech fields.
During the 2021-2025 term, more than 180 laws, ordinances and resolutions were passed, 820 decrees were issued, the most in a single term so far; nearly 4,300 administrative procedures and business regulations were cut and simplified, creating maximum convenience for businesses and foreign investors, preventing the emergence of new, cumbersome regulations and procedures that cause difficulties and increase compliance costs for businesses.
Along with that, promote seamless infrastructure connection between provinces and regions, national and international connections in a synchronous and modern direction, including expressway systems, high-speed railways, urban railways, airports, seaports, and waterways.
By the end of 2025, Vietnam plans to complete 3,245 km of expressways and over 1,700 km of coastal roads; basically complete the first phase of Long Thanh International Airport; actively implement the Gia Binh International Airport construction project in the north (Bac Ninh province) with a capacity of tens of millions of passengers per year; build a National Exhibition Center with a scale in the top 10 in the world; restart the nuclear power project, focus on completing and putting into use large power projects; develop a synchronous and modern digital infrastructure.
At the same time, innovate smart governance thinking in the direction of "both tight management and development creation, maximum resource mobilization for development", abandoning the thinking of "if you can't manage, then ban", "if you don't know, then don't manage". Promote decentralization and delegation of power to ministries, branches and localities in the direction of streamlining, compactness, strength, efficiency, effectiveness and efficiency, eliminating the request-grant mechanism; apply a two-level local government model, eliminate unnecessary intermediate levels, change the state from passive management to proactive development creation and serving people and businesses.
6 major directions to strengthen cooperation
According to the Prime Minister, in addition to the important results achieved in recent times, the room and potential for cooperation between Vietnam and Japan is still very large. To contribute to further exploiting this room and at the same time improving the quality and effectiveness of cooperation between the business community and localities of the two countries, the Prime Minister proposed and suggested 6 major orientations for the two sides to strengthen cooperation, exchange and discussion at the Forum.
Firstly, be proactive, creative, and promote the potentials and complementary factors between the two countries' localities to promote cooperation on the principle of "mutual benefit", "what one side needs, the other side has", for common prosperity. Vietnam has localities that need capital, technology, and underdeveloped supporting industries, etc., while Japan also has localities that are facing problems of labor shortages, aging populations, and lack of growth momentum, etc.
Therefore, the Prime Minister suggested that localities focus on discussing their potentials, strengths, outstanding opportunities, and competitive advantages; each locality identifies 1-2 priority and spearhead areas of its locality, and strives to propose 2-3 specific cooperation initiatives/projects that can be implemented in the next 1-2 years.
Second, identify "taking businesses and people as the center, subject, goal, driving force and main resource of cooperation". At this Forum, in addition to localities, there are also hundreds of businesses from both countries trying to find opportunities for connection and trade.
The Prime Minister suggested that localities of the two countries focus on listening to the opinions of businesses to proactively have preferential policies, creating a favorable environment for businesses of the two countries to connect and invest, while ensuring that people are the main beneficiaries of cooperation in the spirit of "3 more": "better jobs, higher income, better skills and working conditions".
Third, identifying cultural exchange and mutual understanding as the foundation of long-term cooperation. The Prime Minister suggested that both sides discuss and propose specific initiatives to enhance cultural connections, tourism, people-to-people exchanges between the two countries in general and understanding between localities in particular (such as encouraging people to travel to each other, organizing festivals, having common tourism products, opening more flights, enhancing exchanges between young generations, etc.).
Fourth, identifying innovation and digital transformation as new growth drivers for local cooperation. The Prime Minister suggested that both sides study and promote cooperation models on digital technology, AI, smart cities, startup incubators, research and development (R&D) centers, etc.; hoping that the Japanese side will increase experience sharing and support for Vietnamese localities and enterprises in building an innovation ecosystem, promoting digital transformation in local governments, and improving policy-making and governance capacity in priority areas such as AI, mobile infrastructure, semiconductors, etc.
Fifth, further strengthen cooperation in green transformation, climate change response, resource management, natural disaster prevention and control; the two sides exchange and share experiences, propose specific cooperation projects on green infrastructure, urban flood prevention, waste and wastewater treatment, smart agriculture adapting to climate change, renewable energy, etc.
Sixth, strengthen cooperation in training and supplement human resources for each other, in the context of Japan's labor shortage, while Vietnam is in the "golden population" period and adjusting policies to develop population, improve people's knowledge, train human resources, and foster talents.
The Prime Minister said that the Vietnamese Government welcomes and agrees with the statement made by Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi right after his election, which is "Work! Work! Work and Work!". The Vietnamese Government pledges to continue to work harder, always accompanying Japanese localities and investors in the spirit of "3 together": including: Listening and understanding between enterprises, the State and the people; sharing vision and action to cooperate and support each other for rapid and sustainable development; working together, winning together, enjoying together, developing together; sharing joy, happiness and pride.
In that spirit, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called on Japanese localities and enterprises to continue to trust and stick with Vietnam in the development process; constantly contribute to the prosperity of the two countries as well as the Vietnam - Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with the motto "promoting intelligence, valuing time, and respecting decisiveness".
The Prime Minister believes that the first Vietnam-Japan Local Cooperation Forum will be an important milestone, a "new push", opening a promising and creative path of cooperation between Vietnam and Japan, contributing to further developing bilateral relations under the motto of "sincerity - affection - trust - substance - efficiency - mutual benefit", in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of both countries, two peoples and leaders.
Source: https://dangcongsan.org.vn/tin-hoat-dong/thu-tuong-phat-huy-tinh-than-lam-viec-lam-viec-va-3-cung-de-thuc-day-hop-tac-viet-nhat.html
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