Vietnam’s national television company (VTV) launched its bureau in Japan on April 16 in a bid to expand its foreign broadcast to serve local audiences.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, VTV General Director Tran Binh Minh said the new bureau will cover news on Japan in all angles along with bridging the ties between the two countries’ mass media agencies.

Vietnamese ambassador to Japan Doan Xuan Hung hailed the significance of VTV’s Japan bureau at a time when the two countries are celebrating the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Year.

Bilateral relations are developing in all aspects in a broader and deeper manner, prompting the two peoples’ keen interests in their respective cultural, political, and economic life, the diplomat added.

On this occasion, President of the Foreign Press Center of Japan Kiyotaka Akasaka sent a congratulatory message to VTV.

Vice President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency Hiroto Arakawa underscored the roles of press agencies in Japan ’s socio-economic development, expressing his belief that the bureau will help further promote mutual understanding and relations between the two countries.

Japan is the first country in the Group of Seven (G7) to set up strategic partnership with Vietnam, in April, 2009.

It is now Vietnam’s third largest partner with a two-way trade turnover reaching nearly 25 billion USD in 2012.

By the end of last year, the country ranked first among countries and territories investing in Vietnam with over 1,800 projects with a total registered capital of 29 billion USD.-VNA