This was the first visit to Japan by a politburo member of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) after the 11^th National Party Congress.

The visit aimed to promote and deepen the strategic partnership between the two countries and gain experience from Japan in improving government staff’s capacity.

During the visit, Mr Phuc met with leaders of various Japanese ministries, major organisations and economic groups. He briefed them on Vietnam’s significant achievements in socio-economic development and thanked the Japanese Government and its people for supporting Vietnam’s process of national construction and development.

Mr Phuc also informed them about the outcomes of the 11^th National Party Congress and affirmed that the Party, State and Government of Vietnam always gives top priority to developing strategic partnership with Japan in its external policy.

He praised the comprehensive development of the Vietnam-Japan strategic partnership, particularly after Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s visit to Vietnam last year.

Vietnam wishes to continue its cooperation with Japan in carrying out big projects to build a nuclear power plant in Binh Thuan, exploit rare earth and develop infrastructure facilities, Mr Phuc said.

He also asked Japan to assist Vietnam in training human resources, including leaders and managers of the Government Office and other ministries and sectors.

Japanese officials congratulated the success of Vietnam’s 11^th National Party Congress and expressed their wish to develop the strategic partnership with Vietnam and reiterated their commitments to implementing major infrastructure development and boosting cooperation with Vietnam in the development of human resources.