Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Yamada Takio (Photo: VNA) Japan will welcome Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s trip to Japan for the summit, and hopes to foster cooperation with Vietnam to promote the comprehensive strategic partnership in the coming time, said the ambassador.
He underlined that the scheduled talks between the Prime Ministers of Japan and Vietnam during PM Chinh’s visit will be the first to be held after the bilateral relations were upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World during Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong’s official visit to Japan in November.
He said that high-ranking leaders of the two countries will discuss important activities to further deepen bilateral relations across all fields, including economy, on the foundation of the new partnership.
Regarding the Japan-ASEAN ties, the diplomat said that over the past 50 years, Japan has accompanied ASEAN member countries, especially Vietnam, during the grouping’s development and integration process. Japan has supported the growth of the ASEAN region through development cooperation programmes in different areas, he said.
Japan and ASEAN are important trade and investment partners, he underlined, noting that in recent years, Japan has not only combined the impressive growth of ASEAN with the Japanese economy but also provided products, services and employment opportunities to the association, contributing to the growth of ASEAN member countries.
Japan and ASEAN share a sincere, trustful and heart-to-heart friendship that goes beyond development and economic cooperation to people-to-people exchanges in various fields, stated the diplomat.
He underlined that Japan and ASEAN have supported each other during the hardest times such as the devastating tsunami in eastern Japan or the COVID-19 pandemic, while treating each other as sincere friends in the “heart to heart” spirit.
Regarding major contents of the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation, the Japanese ambassador said that during the event, Japanese PM Kishida Fumio and ASEAN leaders will sketch out orientations to promote partnership between Japan and ASEAN. This will be based on the foundation of cooperative and trustful relations developed over the past 50 years. They will discuss emerging issues such as climate change response.
Japan hopes that through the discussions, the two sides will come up with a new vision towards the future and specific actions that will be shown in a joint statement to be issued at the end of the event, thereby further strengthening the Japan-ASEAN ties, the diplomat said./.
VNA
