The meeting was held on the sidelines of the official visit of Vietnamese State President Vo Van Thuong and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to Japan.
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Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien (right) and Mr. Kiyoshi Serizawa |
During the discussion, both sides agreed that the two countries' agencies have coordinated in carrying out various significant activities in 2023 to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan. Regarding defense cooperation, they highlighted mutual high-level visits such as the official visit of the Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army to Japan in October 2023, the visit of the Chief of Staff of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force to Vietnam in February 2023, and the visit of Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's largest destroyer, Izumo, to Vietnam in June 2023. They also emphasized implementing defense policy dialogues at the deputy ministerial level, consultancy for staff officers from the naval, infantry, and air forces, as well as programs supporting capacity enhancement, settlement of war legacy, and U.N. peacekeeping operations.
Both parties praised the successful joint leadership role in the Fourth Cycle of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+) Experts’ Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations in the 2021-2023 period. This included the Competency Evaluation Program for Prospective U.N. Peacekeepers (CEPPP) conducted in Vietnam in September 2023.
Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien affirmed that since the formal establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations in 1973, the Vietnam-Japan relationship has always been a focus for both sides, continually expanding across various sectors, bringing benefits to both nations. He expressed his hope that the Japan Ministry of Defense will continue promoting cooperation with the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense in areas such as training, navy, maritime security, overcoming war consequences, and U.N. peacekeeping missions.
In turn, Japanese Deputy Minister of Defense Kiyoshi Serizawa expressed his delight at the bilateral defense cooperation's development over the past time. He hoped that both sides would further strengthen defense relations in line with the directions set by the countries' senior leadership. They agreed on various cooperation areas, including organizing the tenth Vietnam-Japan deputy ministerial-level defense policy dialogue by the end of February 2024.
On this occasion, Deputy Minister Kiyoshi Serizawa extended a cordial invitation for Vietnam to attend the ASEAN-Japan Deputy Defense Ministers' Meeting scheduled to take place in Japan in January 2024. He also mentioned Japan's readiness to welcome the Vietnamese Department of Peacekeeping Operations for the handover ceremony of the joint leadership role of the ADMM+ Experts’ Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations Cycle 4 in the 2021-2023 period in early December 2023 in Japan.
Translated by Trung Thanh