Gov’t chief receives Japanese guest

Pham welcomed Shindo to Viet Nam to discuss the implementation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and orientations to further advance economic cooperation between the two countries in the future.

Both sides noted with pleasure at the robust and comprehensive developments in the bilateral ties, particularly the elevation of the ties to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World in 2023 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic establishment.

Japan remains the leading economic partner of Viet Nam, the largest ODA provider (with nearly US$30 billion), the third biggest foreign investor (with 5,304 valid FDI projects and nearly US$74.4 billion of investment) and the fourth trading partner (with the two-way trade of US$45 billion).

Besides the CPTPP, Viet Nam and Japan are also members of many other free trade agreements and economic cooperation frameworks such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (AJCEP), the Viet Nam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (VJEPA), and most recently the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). These cooperation frameworks play an important role in promoting trade, investment and business relations between the two countries to a new level.

The Prime Minister called on the Japanese Government to maintain cooperation with and support Viet Nam in the cause of national industrialization and modernization based on science, technology, innovation, green growth, digital economy, circular economy, sharing economy, and knowledge-based economy.

The host leader took the occasion to call on Japan to share experience and cooperate with Viet Nam in the field of agriculture, climate change response, coping with population aging; education and training, people-to-people exchange and tourism.

Pham also urged Japan to support Vietnamese enterprises to participate in the global supply chain, production chain, and distribution chain.

In reply, Minister Shindo praised Viet Nam’s high-quality labor resource. 

Japan will continue to reform labor import policies to become a more attractive destination for Vietnamese trainees and guest workers, said Shindo.

He also hopes Viet Nam will continue to coordinate closely with Japan and other CPTPP members to effectively implement the trade deal./.