Kishida’s visit – an important milestone in Vietnam-Japan relations

Bilateral relations at historical high

This will mark PM Kishida’s first visit to Vietnam in his current role since taking office in October, 2021, coming hot on the heels of a visit to Japan made by Vietnamese PM Pham Minh Chinh in November 2021.

The trip takes place at a time when mutual relations have been developing effectively across various fields. Senior leaders from both sides have maintained regular visits and contacts at international and regional forums. The two sides are active in preparing activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2023.

Bilateral relations with high trust are now at their best stage in history following the first establishment of diplomatic ties in 1973. Former Japanese PMs Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga, the two predecessors of the incumbent PM, both chose Vietnam as the first country to visit after taking office. In addition, PM Chinh, who was former chairman of the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Parliamentary Alliance, was also the first foreign leader to be officially invited by the new Japanese Government.

The Japanese leader had held the position of General Secretary of the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Alliance for many years. He visited Vietnam three times in different positions and actively contributed to upgrading the bilateral relationship to a level of Extensive Strategic Partnership in 2014. During his time in the post he once said that, “Vietnam is a special and predestined country with Japan.”

This visit aims to promote the implementation of the results of PM Chinh’s official visit to Japan last November, thereby strengthening political trust, and increasing substantive co-operation in all fields to meet the interests and aspirations of the two peoples.

During PM Chinh’s visit both sides issued a joint statement towards opening a new era in the bilateral extensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia. The joint statement was said to create a driving force in elevating relations between the two countries to new heights.

Meeting with Japanese leaders in Tokyo, PM Chinh reiterated Vietnam’s consistent policy of considering Japan as a friend, a reliable, close, important, and long-term strategic partner, particularly as the two countries share many common strategic interests. Vietnam pledges to support Japan in promoting its role in the region and the world at large, and is simultaneously willing to join Japan in contributing to maintaining peace, stability, co-operation, and development across the region.

Meanwhile, the Japanese leaders expressed their belief in Vietnamese development potential, anticipating that the country will become a centre of post-pandemic economic recovery and development and become an exemplary model among developing countries in terms of digital transformation, green growth, sustainability, emission reduction, and climate change response.

Bilateral co-operation yielding positive results

Over the years, bilateral co-operation in the fields of defence, security, investment, trade, ODA, health care, agriculture, science and technology, digital transformation, education and training, and climate change response have yielded positive results. Japan continues to represent the country’s leading economic partner, largest ODA donor, third largest investor, third largest tourism partner, and fourth largest trade partner. The two sides have actively co-ordinated in a bid to remove obstacles in important co-operation projects.

Despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, two-way trade turnover hit US$42.7 billion last year, whilst the initial three months of this year alone saw bilateral trade rise by 11% year on year to US$11.2 billion.

As of March 20, Japan had 4,828 valid FDI projects in Vietnam, with a total registered investment capital of more than US$64.4 billion, ranking third amongst 139 countries and territories investing in the country.

Moreover, Japan is the largest loan provider to Vietnam, cumulatively delivering JPY2.578 trillion, equivalent to approximately US$23.76 billion, as of December, 2019, accounting for 26.3% of the total amount of foreign loans the Government has signed with partners.

Since 1992, Vietnam has sent trainees to Japan. Currently, it ranks first in terms of the number of foreign trainees in Japan, amounting to more than 200,000 people in total.

Japan is also  one of the largest donors to Vietnamese education and training. The two sides have signed many co-operation documents in this field, with the number of Vietnamese students in Japan currently at more than 51,000.

Japan is assisting Vietnam to upgrade four of its universities, while it is undertaking a project to build the Vietnam-Japan University which is designed to train high-quality human resources for Vietnam.

Co-operation between the two countries’ localities have also been promoted, as both sides have signed more than 70 co-operation documents in this regard.

In combating COVID-19, Japan donated over 7.4 million vaccine doses and more than JPY4 billion to purchase equipment and provide technical support for the local health system. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese Government, National Assembly, and localities provided more than 1.2 million masks to Japan.

Moving forward, PM Kishida’s visit is expected to further develop political trust, promote mutual understanding, and expand co-operation as the Vietnam – Japan extensive strategic partnership is developing substantially for the sake of peace and prosperity in Asia.