Prime Minister hosts welcome ceremony for Japanese counterpart Takaichi Sanae

Present at the welcome ceremony include Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang, Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung, Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Dang Xuan Phong, Minister of Finance Ngo Van Tuan, Minister of Industry and Trade Le Manh Hung, Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son, Deputy Minister of Public Security Dang Hong Duc, Standing Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Bui Hoang Phuong, Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Van Sinh, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Manh Khuong, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Le Cong Thanh, Vice Chairman of the Government Office Don Tuan Phong, Assistant to the Prime Minister Tran Tuan Anh, and Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu.

The Japanese Prime Minister arrived in Ha Noi on Friday afternoon, starting her three-day official visit to Viet Nam.

The visit will help bring bilateral relations to a new height, according to Japanese Ambassador to Viet Nam Ito Naoki.

Ambassador Ito noted that it has become almost customary for Japanese Prime Ministers to visit Viet Nam within a year of taking office, underscoring Japan's consistent prioritisation of ties with the Southeast Asian nation.

The trip aims to build trust between the two countries' leaders, review the achievements of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and confirm key directions for future cooperation.

He added that the visit will serve as an opportunity for both countries to reaffirm closer coordination within the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework, and address regional and global issues of shared concern.

Ito said a key highlight of the visit will be Prime Minister Takaichi's policy speech at the Viet Nam National University, Ha Noi on the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) strategy. This will mark the first time a Japanese Prime Minister delivers a policy speech in Viet Nam since 2020.

Viet Nam and Japan established diplomatic relations in 1973 and upgraded their ties into a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2023. Japan is Viet Nam's largest provider of ODA, biggest labor cooperation partner, third-largest investor, and fourth-largest partner in tourism and trade.

Bilateral trade value reached over US$51.43 billion last year. The Japanese Embassy in Viet Nam reported that in the first quarter of this year, the figure increased by 12.7 percent compared to the same period last year, with expectations reaching US$60 billion by 2027.

As of January 31, 2026, Japan had 5,722 valid investment projects in Viet Nam with a total registered capital of US$78.9 billion, ranking third among 153 countries and territories investing in the Southeast Asian nation.

In the semiconductor sector, Viet Nam aims to train 500 PhD researchers by 2030, and Japan has announced it will accept about half of them through international joint research programs.

There are more than 680,000 Vietnamese people living in Japan, making them the second-largest foreign community in the country./.