Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung held separate receptions for President of the Japan–Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group Toshihiro Nikai and President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Tanaka Akihiko in Tokyo on July 3.

The PM, who is in Japan for the seventh Mekong – Japan Summit, praised the Japan–Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group for their role in promoting bilateral relations. He asked the group to exhort the Japan government to provide Vietnam with more official development assistance, receive more Vietnamese nurses and trainees and encourage Japanese enterprises to operate in Vietnam.

He also urged Japanese parliamentarians to continue backing Vietnam and ASEAN’s position on ensuring peace, security, maritime and aviation safety and freedom as well as call upon parties concerned to refrain from acts that can further complicate and extend disputes in the East Sea.

Nikai said the group will work to foster the Japan-Vietnam relations particularly in the fields suggested by PM Dung. He informed the PM of the planting of Vietnamese lotus in Japan, which he said is a symbol of the friendship between the two countries.

The Vice President of the group Maeda said he will visit Vietnam in the foreseeable future to push for partnership in infrastructure.

At the meeting with the JICA head, PM Nguyen Tan Dung said 27 billion USD worth of ODA that Japan has supplied to Vietnam over the past 20 years has benefited Vietnam on its way toward sustainable development, especially in infrastructure construction.

He suggested Japan continue with the ODA provision for both undergoing projects and a number of new important socio-economic projects in Vietnam.

Tanaka Akihiko said the recently-inaugurated Noi Bai international airport facilities and Nhat Tan bridge are epitome of the effective coordination between Vietnam and Japan.

The host hailed the Vietnamese government’s resolve in dealing with the recent ODA corruption case and affirmed that JICA will also exert efforts to prevent similar negative practices.-VNA