President’s speech at Japanese National Diet makes headlines

Tokyo (VNA) – President Vo Van Thuong’s speech at the National Diet of Japan on November 29 has grabbed the headlines of many leading local media outlets.

In an article on its website, radio and television broadcasting station NHK cited the Vietnamese leader, who is on an official visit to Japan, as stating that basing on the comprehensive strategic partnership, the two countries will strengthen cooperation in multiple spheres, including economy, security, people-to-people exchange, and climate change response.

NHK wrote that in his about-20-minute address, Thuong mentioned the countries’ joint statement on elevating bilateral relations to the comprehensive strategic partnership, which he said has opened up a new chapter of their ties to meet both sides’ interests and contribute to peace and stability.
    
The speech was concluded with an appeal for joint determination to be made to turn the countries’ relations into truly sincere friendship, trustworthy partnership, and strategic cooperation for sustainable future. The remark received a big round of applause from the audience, according to NHK.

Other major media agencies of Japan like Nikkei, Sankei, and Jiji also covered President Thuong’s speech, reporting that he affirmed Japan is an important economic partner of Vietnam and stressed the necessity to build political trust and cooperate in the field of clean energy.

Sankei cited the President as expressing his hope that the two countries will expand bilateral cooperation to such new aspects as climate change response and digital transformation.

According to Nikkei, the visiting leader stressed that Vietnam and Japan should work together in maritime security and other areas as part of their joint vision on defence cooperation for the next decade.

He noted focusing on maritime security is necessary for responding to non-traditional security challenges, adding that Vietnam supports Japan’s more important and active role in the Indo-Pacific and Asia-Pacific, the newswire said on November 30.

Other activities during his visit also attracted local media’s attention.

Japan News on November 29 spotlighted President Thuong’s meeting with the Japanese families who used to host him during the countries’ youth exchanges held by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Miyazaki prefecture in 1997 and Akita prefecture in 2011.

The newspaper quoted the leader as saying that he was greatly impressed with the cultural experiences during the programmes. He also underlined the importance of grassroots-level and youth exchanges to bilateral relations./.