Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Aso received a Vietnam News Agency VNA delegation led by Acting General Director Nguyen Quoc Uy in Tokyo on December 5.

Acting General Director Uy informed the host of the growing cooperative ties between VNA and Japan's Kyodo News Agency as well as orientations for their cooperation in the future, contributing to the friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Mr Aso highly valued the cooperation between VNA and Kyodo in the context of new developments in the two countries' relationship, especially after Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's official visit to Japan and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's official visit to Vietnam.

On this occasion, the Japanese FM granted an interview to a VNA correspondent in Japan,. He said he had his good impression of Vietnam and its people during his attendance at the APEC Ministerial Meeting in Hanoi.

The Vietnamese people are friendly, hard-working and quick to learn new skills, Aso said, noting that Vietnam's fast economic development over recent years has constantly helped improve its people's living conditions, Mr Aso further said.

According to the Japanese FM, many Japanese investors consider Vietnam as an attractive investment destination. He noted that Japan's investment in Vietnam has increased sharply over the past three years, and during PM Dung's visit to Japan, both sides agreed to start negotiations on the bilateral economic partnership agreement (EPA) in January 2007.

FM Aso said he believes Vietnam's economy will grow even stronger in the future.

The same day, the VNA delegation met with Tsutomu Takebe, President of the Vietnam-Japan Parliamentarians' Friendship League and former Secretary General of Japan's governing Liberal Democratic Party.

VNA