State President Nguyen Minh Triet urged Vietnamese and Japanese business circles to strive for a breakthrough in their cooperation to match the two countries’ strategic partnership.

The Vietnamese President was addressing a Vietnam-Japan trade, investment and tourism promotion forum in Nagoya city, Japan ’s Aichi prefecture, on the morning of Nov. 15.

“ Vietnam always highly values what the Japanese investors have contributed to its economic development,” President Triet told the 300 participating businesspeople.

Reviewing milestones in the two countries’ cooperation, the President affirmed that the Vietnam-Japan strategic partnership is growing in a comprehensive and stronger manner in the areas the two countries have established cooperative ties.

He gave high estimations to Japan ’s cooperation in infrastructure construction, nuclear power, oil and gas industry, clean energy, and minerals exploitation.

The President said this forum is a good chance for businesspeople in Nagoya , which is home to various hi-tech industries, such as automobile, aviation, and mechanical engineering, to update with a wide range of information about Vietnam , an emerging dynamic and actively-integrating economy.

Japan has provided Vietnam with a total of 16 billion USD in official development assistance (ODA) since 1992.

In 2009, the two countries attained a two-way trade value of 13.7 billion USD. At present, Japan ranks third among 92 countries and territories investing in Vietnam .

The robust and stable growth Vietnam and Japan have posted in their trade and investment recently shows they can supplement each other with their own advantages and the business circles can enjoy numerous cooperation opportunities for mutual development, President Triet noted.

Riding the developments in the Vietnam-Japan relations, many Japanese businesses have been doing well in Vietnam, he told the participants, saying new areas and opportunities are opening up for them.

At the end of the forum, President Triet witnessed the signing of a series of cooperative agreements and economic deals between Vietnamese and Japanese businesses.

The same day, he visited the Mitsubishi group’s civil aircraft manufacturing plant and Vietnam ’s honorary consulate office in Nagoya and received officials from the Japan-Vietnam economic forum organisation.

Late on the day, President Triet left Nagoya , wrapping up his trip to Japan for the 18 th APEC Summit./.