Japan regarded as one of Vietnam’s leading and long-term important partners

This affirmation was made by National Assembly (NA) Chairman Tran Thanh Man during his talks with Speaker of the Japanese House of Representatives Nukaga Fukushiro in Tokyo on December 4 as part of the top Vietnamese legislator’s official visit to the Far East Asian nation.

Speaker Fukushiro welcomed NA Chairman Man's first official visit to Japan in his new position and shared the damage caused by typhoon No. 3 (international name Yagi) to the Vietnamese people. He affirmed that Japan will continue to co-operate and support the country in preventing and overcoming the consequences of natural disasters moving forward.

He therefore expressed his delight that President Luong Cuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had held consecutive meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru over the past month, thereby demonstrating the closeness and trust that exists between both countries' senior leaders.

The host emphasized that Japan considers Vietnam to be an important partner in implementing its foreign policy in the region and hoped that the Vietnam - Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership will continue to develop in an effective, substantial, and strong manner in the time ahead.

In response, the Vietnamese NA leader congratulated Speaker Fukushiro on his re-election as Speaker of the Japanese House of Representatives and conveyed the regards of Party General Secretary To Lam, President Cuong, and PM Chinh to the Speaker of the Japanese House of Representatives, thanking the Japanese side for its support in overcoming the consequences of typhoon No. 3.

The two sides rejoiced over the comprehensive and substantive development of the Vietnam-Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership after a year of implementing the new framework of relations with high political trust, close exchanges at high and all levels, and fruitful ties developed between the Vietnamese NA and the Japanese House of Representatives.

The two sides agreed to make joint efforts in a bid to further consolidate political trust, deepen collaboration efforts through all channels of the Party, Government, NA, and people, enhance exchanges and contacts at high and all levels, and ramp up ties between the Vietnamese NA and the House of Representatives of Japan by increasing delegation exchanges between specialized agencies, the Parliamentary Friendship Alliance, as well as young and female legislators.

They will strive to accelerate the sharing of experiences among parliamentary committees, while also discussing the possibility of signing a co-operation agreement to enhance the general effectiveness of joint efforts between the two legislatures, thereby facilitating both bilateral and multilateral activities.

Both sides also consented to ramp up collaboration in the areas of security and defence, including the implementation of agreements on defence technology and equipment transfer, as well as enhancing ties in UN peacekeeping activities. Japan therefore affirmed its support for the Vietnamese side in terms of addressing the consequences of war, disaster relief, and rescue operations.

NA Chairman Man hailed Japan for providing official development assistance (ODA) capital over the past 30 years, suggesting that the country move to implement a new-generation ODA programme specifically for Vietnam, with high incentives, simple and flexible procedures in large-scale strategic infrastructure development projects, along with support in training high-quality human resources.

The Vietnamese NA is actively fine-tuning the legal framework and the investment environment to support foreign enterprises, including those from Japan, to increase stable and long-term investments in the Vietnamese market. This will ensure both fairness and equality between Vietnamese and foreign investors, NA Chairman Man told his host.

Speaker Fukushiro affirmed that the National Diet of Japan supports the two countries as they work to bolster economic, ODA, investment, and trade cooperation, added that his country is promoting the diversification of supply chains.

Many Japanese companies have expressed their wish to further expand investments in Vietnam and outlined hope for the improved investment environment in the country, he said.

Host and guest agreed to expand comprehensive co-operation into new areas such as artificial intelligence, digital transformation, innovation, digital society, green transition, and energy transition, as well as investment ties in training human resources.

The top Vietnamese legislator called for Japanese support for Vietnam as it seeks to engage more deeply in the global semiconductor supply chain of Japanese companies. He also suggested strengthening labour co-operation and locality-to-locality connection.

Speaker Fukushiro greatly valued the contributions made by the Vietnamese community in Japan to the host country's socio-economic development, showing his commitment to expanding job opportunities for Vietnamese workers, as well as improving their living and working conditions. This is along with ensuring equal social welfare for Vietnamese nationals based in Japan.

Regarding international and regional issues, both sides consented to bolster ties and mutual support at multilateral forums and mechanisms such as ASEAN, the UN, as well as multilateral parliamentary forums like the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), and the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF).

The top Vietnamese legislator used the occasion to invite his Japanese counterpart to make an official visit to Vietnam at an appropriate time, with the invitation being graciously accepted.

Earlier,  Man and his delegation met with Vietnamese Embassy staff in Japan. Ambassador Pham Quang Hieu briefed the top legislator on the embassy’s operations, saying that amid the development of cooperation and friendship between the two nations, the embassy has stepped greater efforts to fulfill a substantial workload.

The embassy pays attention to all areas of cooperation, from politics and diplomacy to economics, labour, science - technology, as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges, he said, noting that economic diplomacy remains a core activity of the agency.

The embassy has also laid stress on cultural diplomacy by launching Vietnamese festivals in many Japanese localities; and made significant efforts in citizen support and protection, he added.

The top legislator highlighted the flourishing development of the Vietnam – Japan relationship, emphasizing that his trip is designed to take the bilateral relations into a new period with more effective and substantive development across fields.

The Vietnamese NA leader applauded efforts made by the embassy and its staff in recent times, spotlighting their positive contributions to the Vietnam-Japan relations.

He asked the embassy and its staff to continue coordinate in parliamentary diplomacy and accompany the Vietnamese community in Japan, giving them timely support in daily life, business and study.