Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan
Dung on July 15 hosted separate receptions for Japanese Foreign Minister
Gemba Koichiro, who is in Hanoi for the fourth session of the
Vietnam-Japan Cooperation Committee.
Talking with the
Japanese minister, Party General Secretary Trong expressed his pleasure
with the development of the bilateral multi-faceted cooperation and
friendship.
He affirmed Vietnam ’s consistent policy of
treasuring the strategic partnership with Japan and expanding
cooperation and exchanges for the benefit of both peoples, thus
contributing to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the
world.
The Party leader highly valued Japan ’s provision of
official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam at a high level and
pledged to effectively use the assistance.
He suggest the two
countries closely work together to organise the Vietnam-Japan Friendship
Year in 2013 when they will celebrate the 40th anniversary of
diplomatic ties.
Minister Gemba Koichiro thanked the Vietnamese
people for their support and solidarity with the Japanese people
following the tsunami last year.
He said that the Japanese people
and businesses want to strengthen relations with Vietnam and
proposed both sides increase high-level visits and promote contacts
between political parties and parliaments as well as cultural and
people-to-people exchanges.
He also urged that both sides join
hands to raise the effectiveness of cooperation, particularly in the
implementation of projects the two governments signed, and further the
Japan-Vietnam strategic partnership.
At his meeting Foreign
Minister Gemba Koichiro, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung hailed the
outcomes of talks between the two foreign ministers and the fourth
session of the Vietnam-Japan Cooperation Committee.
The PM
affirmed the Vietnamese Government and people’s desire to join hands
with Japan to further deepen cooperation in all areas between the
two countries for each country’s development.
He said that
Vietnam already formed a steering board for celebrations during the
Vietnam-Japan Friendship Year in 2013 on the occasion of the 40 th
anniversary of diplomatic ties, and another steering board to accelerate
industrial cooperation between the two countries.
PM Dung added
that the two Governments need to pus forward mega cooperation projects
agreed by both sides, such as the construction of Ninh Thuan
nuclear-power plant 2 and the development of rare earth industry in
Vietnam .
Minister Gemba Koichiro said during his current visit
to Vietnam , the two sides have discussed orientations and measures
to develop the strategic partnership in a comprehensive, effective and
substantial manner in the coming time.
The Minister affirmed
Japan will boost cooperation with Vietnam in human resource
development, science-technology, culture and people-to-people exchange.
He
stressed that Japan continues to consider Vietnam a leading partner in
terms of ODA, saying the Japanese Government will maintain ODA
provision at a high level to Vietnam, focusing on growth support and
enhancement of competitiveness, natural disaster control and climate
change adaptation.
Regarding the East Sea issue, Minister Gemba
expressed Japan’s support of free trade, secure and safe maritime
navigation on the East Sea, and the solution of disputes through
peaceful measures on the basis of international law, particularly the
1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.-VNA