Signing of AJCEP, Vietnam willing to beef up ties with Japan

PANO - The ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement (AJCEP) was signed by Minister of Trade and Industry Vu Huy Hoang on April 1.

The negotiation process of AJCEP was based on a framework agreement on comprehensive economic cooperation between ASEAN-Japan signed on October 8, 2003 by leaders of member states.

This is viewed as an important legal document for the establishment of economic ties between the two sides in the coming time.

Japan is the third-largest trade partner of ASEAN with two-way trade turnover of some 200 billion USD, and is the country with the largest direct investment in the region with an annual investment of 10 billion USD.

Regarding bilateral relations between Vietnam and Japan, Vietnam’s signing of the agreement expressed the Vietnamese government’s willingness to further cooperate with Japan in an effort to build a strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in east Asia.