To Lam meets former Japanese Prime Ministers in Tokyo

At the meetings, both sides expressed their delight at the rapid and comprehensive advancement of Viet Nam-Japan relations across all fields over the past three years since the two countries upgraded their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World.

In particular, science and technology cooperation, a new pillar of bilateral relations, as well as collaboration in emerging areas such as digital transformation, green transition, innovation and semiconductors, have been accelerated, with significant progress made through concrete projects.

Cultural cooperation, local-to-local linkages and people-to-people exchanges have also flourished and become increasingly substantive.

The former Japanese Prime Ministers warmly welcomed and highly appreciated the significance of the official visit to Japan by To Lam and his spouse.

They expressed their confidence that the visit would create strong impetus for elevating Viet Nam-Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to a new level across all areas.

To Lam, for his part, expected that former Japanese leaders would continue supporting efforts to further advance the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in line with the Joint Vision Statement between Viet Nam and Japan recently adopted by the leaders of the two countries.

He suggested that both sides should promote four cooperation priorities, including (1) strengthening political trust through regular exchanges and contacts across all channels; (2) enhancing economic cooperation, economic connectivity and economic security; (3) fostering collaboration in innovation, space technology and high-tech agriculture; and (4) further improving the effectiveness of local-to-local connectivity.

The former Japanese Prime Ministers affirmed that regardless of their positions, they would continue supporting and promoting the development of Viet Nam-Japan relations, guided by the spirit of partners advancing together and co-creating for mutual benefit, high-quality growth, strategic autonomy and resilience", meeting the aspirations of their peoples and making positive contributions to peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Former Japanese Prime Minister and Vice President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Aso Taro reaffirmed his support for Viet Nam's reform efforts and development goals.

He spoke highly of the outcomes of the recent summit meeting between To and Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae.

Taro welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Communist Party of Viet Nam and the LDP.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Kishida Fumio reiterated that he would do his utmost to step up high-level delegation exchanges and bring into full play the important roles of the two countries' Parliamentary Friendship Groups.

He said he was particularly impressed by the Vietnamese leader's speech at the Japanese National Diet, which put forward practical proposals for further deepening Viet Nam-Japan relations.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru hailed Viet Nam's diplomatic achievements and its increasingly important contributions to addressing regional and international matters./.