President Tran Dai Quang grants an interview to Japanese media (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The strategic partnershipbetween Vietnam and Japan is expected to enter a new period of development inthe coming time, especially in the fields of trade, economy, defence-security,health, high technology, locality-to-locality cooperation, and people-to-peopleexchanges.
President Tran Dai Quang expressed the belief inan interview granted to Japanese media including NHK broadcasting organisation,Kyodo News, Jiji Press and Nikkei newspaper in Hanoi on May 25, ahead of hisState-level visit to Japan from May 29 to June 2.
The President said he was glad to lead ahigh-level Vietnamese delegation to Japan on the occasion of the 45th foundinganniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties.
The visit is expected to take the bilateralextensive strategic partnership into a new period of development, contributingto prosperity in each country and to peace, cooperation and development in Asiaand beyond, he said.
President Quang said during the visit, the firstState-level visit made by Quang as President of Vietnam, he is scheduled tomeet the Japanese Emperor and Empress and hold talks with Prime Minister ShinzoAbe. He will also have meetings with Japanese top legislators, politicians,economists, scientists and cultural workers to discuss directions and major measuresto increase political trust and boost cooperation in trade, investment,development cooperation, defence, security, culture, and people-to-people exchanges.
He added that the two sides will talk about coordinationat regional and international forums and issues of mutual concerns, especiallyas Vietnam will be the coordinating country for ASEAN-Japan relations in2018-2021.
The Vietnamese President highlighted Vietnam-Japanlong-standing connection in history, culture and trade, which dated back to the15th century when the trade port of Hoi An in Vietnam welcomed the firstJapanese merchant ships. The Japanese street in Hoi An then was a major trade centreconnecting Japan with other countries in Southeast Asia.
After the establishment of diplomatic ties inSeptember 1973, the bilateral friendship and cooperation have developedstrongly in all realms, especially after the elevation of ties to an extensivestrategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia in March 2014, PresidentQuang said.
Politically, the two countries have reachedmutual trust through regular meetings of high-ranking officials. In 2017 alonethere were five high-level visits between the two countries, including thefirst historical visit to Vietnam by the Japanese Emperor and Empress. The sameyear, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Vietnam twice while Speaker ofthe House of Representatives of Japan Oshima Tadamori visited Vietnamafter 15 years. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also paid an official visit toJapan in June.
Economically, Japan is a leading partner ofVietnam, the largest provider of official development assistance (ODA), and thefourth biggest trade partner of Vietnam.
Last year, Japan became the top foreign investorin Vietnam with a record investment capital of over 9.1 billion USD, four timesover the figure in 2016.
At present, more than 2,500 Japanese businesses,including most major corporations of Japan, are investing in Vietnam.
Japan’s ODA capital has been effectively used inbuilding infrastructure, developing high technology, clean agriculture, climatechange adaptation, and poverty reduction, which makes significant contributionsto Vietnam’s socio-economic development.
Bilateral cooperation in other fields such asdefence, security, culture, education-training, tourism, and people-to-peopleexchanges has been continuously reinforced and expanded.
Thirty-seven pairs of localities of Vietnam andJapan have signed cooperation agreements.
In 2017, Japan ranked third in the number oftourists to Vietnam. The Vietnamese culture festival in Japan and the cherryblossom festival in Vietnam have become annual much-awaited events for the twopeoples.
Vietnam and Japan also closely cooperate atregional and international forums such as the United Nations, ASEAN ,Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).
Particularly, the two countries worked togetherfor the success of the APEC Year 2017 in Vietnam, the 25th APEC EconomicLeaders’ Meeting in Da Nang, and jointly pushed ahead negotiations to reach thesigning of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-PacificPartnership (CPTPP).
Accordingto President Tran Dai Quang, the thriving economic ties between Vietnam andJapan have brought about practical benefits to people of the two countries.
To betterutilise potential and strengths of each other, the two sides should enhance economicconnectivity through promoting trade and investment, and work together toeffectively implement the Vietnam-Japan economic partnership agreement, hesaid.
The leadercalled for joint efforts to double trade and investment value in 2020 ascompared with 2014, facilitate the market access of each other’s farm produceand seafood and effectively implement the Vietnam-Japan Joint Initiative inorder to improve investment environment and promote Japanese investment inflowsin Vietnam, especially in high-tech, infrastructure and energy sectors, thusmaintaining Japan’s position as the No. 1 foreign investor in Vietnam.
He said thetwo countries should join hands in realising action plans for the six key industriesselected under Vietnam’s industrialisation strategy within the Vietnam-Japancooperation framework by 2020 with a vision towards 2030, which are automobileand auto spare parts, farming machines, agro-fishery product processing,shipbuilding, electronics, environmental industry and energy saving.
Vietnam alsohopes for Japan’s active cooperation in developing the support industry in thecountry, President Quang said, calling on the country to maintain its officialdevelopment assistance to Vietnam, particularly in infrastructure construction,high-quality human resources development, climate change response,environmental protection, economic management capacity improvement, theimplementation of large-scale projects, economic reform and sustainabledevelopment.
“We wishthat Japan considers Vietnam a priority partner of the ‘Partnership for QualityInfrastructure’ programme worth 200 billion USD and the Mekong-JapanConnectivity Initiative worth 6.8 billion USD,” he said.
Vietnam alsolooks for enhanced partnerships with Japan in the areas of the two countries’demands and potential like high-tech agriculture, health care, culture,education and cooperation between localities.
PresidentQuang said along with the sound development of bilateral relationship, Vietnam–Japan cooperation at regional and international forums, especially in majorcooperative mechanisms like the UN, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the ASEAN Plus has been tightened,significantly contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development inthe region and the world at large.
The twosides have actively promoted trade liberalisation, while closely coordinatingwith each other to push ahead the negotiations and signing of the CPTPP agreement, and negotiations of the RegionalComprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
Vietnamsupports Japan in playing an active role and contributing to regional peace,stability and development, he said.
He notedthat the two sides have regularly discussed regional and international issuesof shared concern and supported each other’s bids to run for seats at UNagencies and other international organisations.
The twocountries have also shared viewpoints and coordinated to help address issuesrelating to cooperation, development and security in the region, including theEast Sea issue, denuclearization on the Korean peninsula and the Indo-Pacificinitiative.
Both sidesstressed the significance of ensuring peace, security, safety and freedom of aviationand navigation in the East Sea, resolving disputes by peaceful measures and inline with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention onthe Law of the Sea, fully and effectively implementing the Declaration on theConduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) in 2002 and working towards a Code ofConduct in the East Sea (COC).
As thecoordinating country for the ASEAN-Japan relationship from August 2018-Agust2021, Vietnam wishes that the two countries will continue to cooperate atregional and international forums, especially within the ASEAN-Japan cooperationframework, further contributing to peace, security, stability and prosperity inthe region and the world as well, the leader noted.
The CPTPP,signed by 11 countries in Santiago, Chile on March 8 this year, delivers acommon message of the member states who support regional economic linkage, PresidentQuang said, adding that free trade and economic integration will continue to bea mainstream trend in the Asia-Pacific.
He said Vietnam’s joining in CPTPP reflects the country’s strong and consistentcommitment to continued renovation, deep economic integration, participation informing cooperative mechanisms and economic linkages, and contributions toregional and global peace, cooperation and development. As a new-generation andcomprehensive deal, the pact will provide a new driving force for Vietnam inrestructuring its economy, expanding exports and luring more high-techinvestments, he noted.
The President said Vietnam and other CPTPP members welcome other countries tojoin the CPTPP and the extension of the participation will be considered afterthe deal enters into force.
He added that Vietnam needs technical support from Japan to fully andeffectively carry out the deal.
On measures to foster bilateral cooperation in the fields of people-to-peopleexchanges, President Quang said that as the numbers of Vietnamese and Japanesevisited the other countries are increasing rapidly, the two countries shouldpay due attention to communication activities on each other’s culture andregulations.
Currently, there are some 250,000 Vietnamese people in Japan, tripling thenumber five years ago. Of the figure, 200,000 are apprentices and students.Meanwhile, there are some 16,000 Japanese working and running business inVietnam.
Japan isthe third largest source of tourists to Vietnam with 800,000 arrivals in 2017.In addition, Japan also welcomed more than 300,000 Vietnamese in the year.
People-to-people exchanges have deepened mutual understanding and trust, layinga firm foundation for the Vietnam-Japan friendship to grow in the coming time.
“I believe that with concerted efforts from both nations, the Vietnamese peoplecommunity in Japan and the Japanese people community in Vietnam will continueto be a bridge for the Vietnam-Japan friendship for benefits of the twopeoples, and for regional and global peace, stability and prosperity,”President Quang said at the end of the interview.-VNA
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