Japanese PM to pay official visit to Vietnam
VOV.VN - Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae is scheduled to pay an official visit to Vietnam from May 1-3 at the invitation of Prime Minister Le Minh Hung, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam said on April 28.
Vietnam-Japan relations continue to record strong progress. Political trust has been strengthened, while exchanges and contacts at high and other levels have been intensified through Party, State and National Assembly channels.
Notably, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (January 2013) and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (October 2020) chose Vietnam as the first country to visit after taking office, while Vietnam’s senior leaders have regularly chosen Japan as a frequent destination for annual visits.
Japan is currently one of Vietnam’s most important economic partners. Locality-to-locality Cooperation , as well as in culture, human resources linkages and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, has become increasingly close and effective.
Japan was the first G7 country to host a visit by Vietnam’s Party General Secretary (1995), the first G7 country to establish a Strategic Partnership with Vietnam (2009), the first G7 country to recognise Vietnam’s market economy status (2011), and the first G7 country to invite Vietnam twice to attend the expanded G7 Summit (May 2016, May 2023).
In terms of economic cooperation, Japan is Vietnam’s largest provider of ODA and its largest partner in labour cooperation, the third-largest investor, and the fourth-largest partner in tourism and trade.
In January 2026, bilateral trade reached US$4.87 billion, up 27.7% year-on-year. Vietnam’s exports to Japan totalled US$2.53 billion, up 17.8%, while its imports from Japan stood at US$2.34 billion, up 40.5%.
Japan backs Vietnam’s presidency of NPT Review Conference
Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Motegi Toshimitsu has reaffirmed his country’s strong support for Vietnam in its role as President of the 11th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), scheduled to open in New York in the coming days.
Deputy PM hails cooperation in personnel training with Japan
Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra on April 16 met with Honna Hitoshi, President and CEO of Japan’s erex Co., Ltd., highlighting the value of practical international cooperation programmes like the one with erex in enhancing the quality of Vietnam’s civil service.
