On the one-year anniversary of this partnership, Ambassador Ito highlighted significant progress despite leadership changes in both nations. High-level dialogues and meetings continued, including talks between Japan's new Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the October ASEAN Summit, President Luong Cuong on APEC sidelines and at the G20 Summit. In September, former Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio engaged in a virtual meeting with Vietnamese Party General Secretary To Lam.
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Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Ito Naoki |
The diplomat stressed that the partnership has deepened across various sectors, spanning economy, trade, investment, defense, and people-to-people exchanges.
In March this year, the countries launched the Japan-Vietnam joint initiative in the new era, focusing on energy, innovation, supply chain development, high-quality human resources building, and business climate improvement.
Japan is also increasingly interested in Vietnam’s semiconductor industry, Ito noted. A November agreement was also signed between the two Governments to provide IT equipment for the upgrade of Vietnam’s national population data center, which is operated by the Ministry of Public Security.
According to him, maritime security and safety collaboration has expanded, with a prominent project involving the construction of six patrol vessels for the Vietnam Coast Guard currently underway.
In terms of tourism and people-to-people exchanges, over 600,000 Vietnamese are now residing in Japan, which remains a top destination for Vietnamese workers. To maintain such a position, Japan is committed to improving related policies and workplace conditions for young Vietnamese, he noted.
Japan has also provided approximately USD 2.4 million in aid to Vietnam through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and various international and regional organizations to help it overcome the serious consequences of Typhoon Yagi, which struck the Southeast Asian nation in September.
The ambassador expressed confidence that under the new leadership headed by Party General Secretary To Lam, the era of Vietnam's rise will offer exceptional opportunities for the two countries’ cooperation and friendship to thrive. Vietnam’s proactive diplomatic stance, meanwhile, would further deepen their joint work, especially within multilateral forums like the United Nations and ASEAN. In strategic sectors outlined by Vietnam – urban rail transportation, energy, and digital transformation – the bilateral partnership is making steady progress.
The diplomat said Japan will leverage its technology and financial resources to support Vietnam's commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. This is to be done by building cooperative mechanisms in offshore wind energy, solar power, renewable energy, and LNG, among others. Nuclear energy, receiving resumed attention in Vietnam, is another area where Japan is ready to share its experience, technology, and human resources training.
With bilateral trade growing 1.8 times over the past decade, Ito wished to lift the annual value from USD 90 billion to USD 100 billion.
Source: VNA