Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida. (Photo:VNA)
This is the first Vietnam-Japan high-level talks to takeplace in Hiroshima, the hometown of PM Kishida, and the fifth between the twoPMs in more than a year.
Chinh congratulated Kishida and host Japan on successfullyorganising the G7 and G7 expanded Summits, and spoke highly of Japan's coordinatingrole to reach consensus in solving global challenges such as food security andemission reduction.
Kishida welcomed the active and effective participation in and contribution ofthe Vietnamese delegation to the success of the G7 expanded Summit, affirmingthat Vietnam holds a leading position in the implementation of Japan's foreignpolicy in the region.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida hold talks on May 21. (Photo:VNA)
They agreed to strengthen political trust by stepping uphigh-level visits and contacts in 2023 which marks the 50th anniversary of theestablishment of bilateral diplomatic relations.
The PMs also reached a consensus on enhancing defence-securitycooperation in the settlement of the post-war consequences, human resources training, technologytransfer, and cyber security.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (R) witness the exchange of documents for the signing of new-generation ODA cooperation agreement between the two countries. (Photo:VNA)
Regarding the Nghi Son Oil Refinery project, PM Chinhsuggested the two countries’ businesses actively exchange ideas in the spiritof harmonising benefits, sharing risks, and removing difficulties of theproject.
He also proposed the two sides work together to promote anew wave of Japanese investment in Vietnam in the fields of high-tech industryand energy transition to help Vietnamese firms participate more deeply andwidely in the supply chains of Japan and the globe.
The Vietnamese PM also proposed the Japanese Government tocreate favourable conditions and simplify procedures for granting visas towards the exemption of entry visas for Vietnamese citizens to promotetourism cooperation between the two countries, and pay more attention to the 500,000-strongVietnamese community in the country.
The two sides affirmed to coordinate their stances on issuesof mutual concern at multilateral and regional forums such as ASEAN, the UnitedNations, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Kishida invited Chinhto visit Japan again and attend the ASEAN-Japan Summit in December.
Regarding the East Sea issue, the leaders emphasised theimportance of ensuring navigation and aviation security and safety, solvingall disputes and differences by peaceful means on the basis of internationallaw, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),fullyimplementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC),and soon completing an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the EastSea (COC).
Before the talks, the two witnessed the exchange of signed documentsof three ODA cooperation projects with a total value of 61 billion JPY,including a new-generation ODA support programme for post-pandemicsocio-economic recovery and development, a public transport infrastructure projectin Binh Duong province, and an agricultural development infrastructure projectin Lam Dong province.
This is the last activity of PM Chinh during his trip toattend the G7 expanded Summit and pay a working visit to Japan. In the eveningof the same day, he and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation left Hiroshimafor Hanoi, successfully concluding his trip./.
VNA
