Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has stated that the Government supports cooperation between the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and the Kyodo News Agency as a means to deepen the productive and practical Vietnam–Japan strategic partnership.

Receiving President and Editor-in-Chief of Kyodo News Masaki Fukuyama in Hanoi on November 4, PM Dung hailed the VNA-Kyodo cooperation over the past 30 years, saying that it has helped beef up both nations’ friendship and links.

According to the PM, potential in bilateral cooperation remains huge, especially in economics, trade and investment, citing that Japan is now Vietnam’s biggest investor and supplier of official development assistance. It is also the country’s top trade partner.

Vietnam wishes to boost strong ties with Japan across diverse domains for mutual benefit, the host stressed.

He also suggested VNA and Kyodo further share information and experience, and make training available to more reporters and editors as well.

Fukuyama said his visit is meant to further relations with VNA, especially in the exchange of information so that Vietnamese and Japanese people will have a better understanding of each other.

The guest emphasised that the Japanese Government and people pay special attention to cooperation with Vietnam in various areas, adding that Kyodo will do all it can to popularise friendship and links between the two nations to wider audiences.

At the talks with VNA Director General Nguyen Duc Loi earlier, both sides reviewed how their cooperation deals have panned out, including the exchange of all-level delegations, news and photos, personnel training and multimedia development.

Both sides said they will work more closely together in multimedia, including television news, facilitate more high-level visits and sharing of professional skills, especially foreign languages.

In the near future, VNA wants to learn about Kyodo’s organisation model and news production.

VNA and Kyodo established cooperation in the late 1980s and their fruitful links have been hailed by both nations’ leaders. Besides professional cooperation, they have worked closely together at organisations and forums to which they are members.

They have been elected as members of the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) executive board for the 2013-2016 tenure.-VNA