Japan, Vietnam mark 40 years of friendship

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week paid a two-day visit to Vietnam, just 20 days after he was re-elected as Japanese prime minister. It was Abe’s first foreign trip of his new term and his second visit to Vietnam, after his first visit in 2006.

Japan is Vietnam’s largest foreign investor. Last week’s visit aimed to further strengthen the Vietnam-Japan strategic partnership, promote investment and official development assistance (ODA) cooperation, discuss big projects, and inaugurate the two countries’ year-long celebration of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relationship, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

The MoFA said this visit reflected Japan’s deep commitment to Vietnam, especially in economic, trade and investment cooperation.

Abe held talks with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and met with Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and State President Truong Tan Sang. They discussed measures and orientations to lift the bilateral cooperation to a new height and agreed to continue the implementation of high-level agreements on economic cooperation, particularly large-scale infrastructure projects.

Abe pledged Japan would continue assisting Vietnam in successfully realising its national industrialisation and modernisation goals by providing more ODA for the South East Asia country.

He said Japan would give a new ODA sum worth $500 million for three of Vietnam’s infrastructure projects. Abe also pledged to continue working with Vietnam to carry out its national industrialisation strategy under the Vietnam–Japan Cooperation Framework until 2020 and with the vision towards 2030.

They also agreed to partner more to bring more Japanese investments into Vietnam and provide  more favourable conditions for Japanese investors and enterprises in Vietnam.

Dung and Abe agreed to enhance ASEAN–Japan links. Dung said Vietnam would closely coordinate with Japan to organise activities used for celebrating the 40th anniversary of ASEAN–Japan dialogue relations.

During his talks with Trong, Abe expressed his wish for promoting cooperation and coordination between the two countries for peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world. Trong affirmed that Vietnam’s Party and State had a consistent policy in attaching big importance to further developing its friendship and strategic partnership with Japan.

Highly valuing Japan’s stance on settling the East Sea issue, Sang said Vietnam frequently expressed its viewpoint on handling disputes among regional countries in line with international law, for peace, stability and development.  

The two countries officially forged a strategic partnership in 2009. Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment reported that up to 2012, Japan ranked first in Vietnam’s foreign investor list, with 1,827 investment projects in Vietnam or $29.14 billion in registered capital, of which $8.4 billion had been disbursed.