General Lich congratulated Yamada Takio on his appointment as Japanese ambassador to Vietnam and believed that the Japanese diplomat will fulfill his responsibilities and make active contributions to developing Vietnam-Japan extensive strategic partnership.
The Vietnamese minister expressed his delight at the comprehensive development of the bilateral ties between the two countries in recent years on the basis of mutual trust, understanding, and support.
He affirmed that the Vietnamese government and people always attach much importance to developing practical and comprehensive relations with Japan and that the close cooperation between the two nations will importantly contribute to maintaining their common goals of peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and the world.
The Vietnamese defense chief took this chance to thank the Japanese government for the provision of USD 1.8 million in aid to Vietnam to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. He also hopes to receive further support from the Japanese side in the time to come.
At the meeting, General Lich gave Ambassador Yamada Takio updated information about Vietnam’s COVID-19 preventive efforts and stressed that the country has strongly and effectively implemented COVID-19 prevention and control measures.
Vietnam gives top priority to controlling COVID-19 and ensuring safety for its citizens and foreigners in the country, he said.
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General Lich (R) presents a souvenir to Japanese ambassador Yamada Takio. |
The Vietnamese minister also spoke highly of the expansion in bilateral defense ties, especially in delegation exchanges, defense policy dialogues at the deputy defense minister level, personnel training, sharing of professional expertise, military medicine, and U.N. peacekeeping operations.
He recalled the success of the first phone talks between deputy defense ministers of the two countries in early June this year. During the talks, the two sides reached consensus on issues of mutual concern, such as contents on bilateral defense cooperation and support in multilateral forums.
General Lich underscored that when the COVID-19 pandemic is under control, the Vietnamese Defense Ministry is willing to work with the Japanese Defense Ministry to continue implementing their signed cooperation agreement in 2020.
Through the Japanese ambassador, General Lich passed along an invitation to his Japanese counterpart to pay an official visit to Vietnam, participate in the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+), and attend the first Vietnam International Defense Expo on the sidelines of ADMM+.
For his part, Japanese ambassador Yamada Takio thanked General Lich for the warm reception. He confirmed that in his post, he will actively contribute to promoting the intensive strategic partnership of Vietnam and Japan, including the bilateral defense ties.
Translated by Mai Huong