Vietnam pledges to facilitate more than 2,000 Japanese enterprises

During his meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized the importance of economic cooperation between the two countries and pledged to continue creating favorable conditions for more than 2,000 Japanese businesses.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets with Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA)

According to the VNA special correspondent, on October 11, on the occasion of attending the 44th-45th ASEAN Summit and related Summits in Vientiane (Laos), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

This was the first meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries since Mr. Ishiba took office.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh congratulated Mr. Shigeru Ishiba on his election as Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Prime Minister of Japan; affirmed that Vietnam considers Japan a reliable, top-priority, and long-term partner; and supports Japan's positive contributions to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized the importance of boosting economic cooperation, a key pillar of the bilateral relationship, strengthening economic linkages and cooperation in ensuring economic security; promoting the progress of important cooperation projects; and pledging to continue creating favorable conditions for more than 2,000 Japanese businesses to cooperate, invest, and conduct mutually beneficial business in Vietnam.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested Japan to consider providing Vietnam with new ODA loans for strategic infrastructure development projects, urban railways, high-speed railways, and climate change adaptation projects in Vietnamese localities.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also proposed expanding cooperation into new areas such as digital transformation, green transformation, circular economy, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence (AI); deepening cooperation in labor and training high-quality human resources; promoting local cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries; expressing hope that Japan would continue to have policies to encourage and support Vietnamese people in Japan; and affirming that Vietnam would closely coordinate with Japan towards the success of EXPO 2025 in Osaka, Kansai.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed his pleasure at meeting Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh for the first time; highly appreciated Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's contributions to the development of Vietnam-Japan relations; affirmed that Vietnam is a key partner in implementing the Free and Open Indo-Pacific Initiative; and expressed his desire to further deepen and strengthen Vietnam-Japan relations.

Emphasizing the importance of Vietnamese human resources to the development of the Japanese economy, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba affirmed that Japan will continue to create favorable conditions for Vietnamese workers and trainees to study and work in Japan through the "Employment for Skill Development Program," and is ready to support Vietnam in training high-quality human resources.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed strong agreement with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's proposals on strengthening economic, trade, and investment cooperation, and pledged to work together to resolve obstacles and create favorable conditions for cooperation between the two countries.

The two Prime Ministers agreed to further strengthen political trust through high-level and other exchanges and contacts; promote defense and security cooperation; effectively implement existing dialogue and cooperation mechanisms; and respond to common challenges in the region.

Discussing regional and international issues of common concern, the two leaders agreed to strengthen coordination, share positions, and support each other in multilateral forums such as ASEAN, the United Nations, and the Mekong sub-regional mechanisms.

Regarding the South China Sea issue, both sides emphasized the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety, and overflight in the South China Sea, and resolving disputes through peaceful means in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

On this occasion, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh respectfully conveyed the invitation from General Secretary and President To Lam to the Emperor and Empress of Japan to visit Vietnam; and expressed his hope to soon welcome the Prime Minister of Japan to Vietnam.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba happily accepted the invitation and said he would arrange a visit to Vietnam in the near future.

Source