At the reception, Minister Koizumi highly valued Vietnam’s role in promoting peace and cooperation in the region and globally, and expressed his pleasure at the steady and substantive progress in Japan–Vietnam defense cooperation in recent years.
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Japan’s Minister of Defense Koizumi Shinjiro (right) welcomes Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien. |
He also extended his sympathy to Vietnam over the severe losses caused by recent storms and floods, expressing hope that Vietnam would soon overcome the consequences and stabilize the lives of affected communities.
For his part, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien thanked Minister Koizumi for the warm reception and noted that, at the first Vietnam - Japan foreign and defense deputy-ministerial (2+2) dialogue held earlier, the deputy ministers of both sides reviewed progress made since the elevation of bilateral ties two years ago and outlined key directions to further deepen cooperation, in line with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries.
Amidst the positive developments in bilateral relations, Senior Lieutenant General Chien expressed his satisfaction that Vietnam–Japan defense cooperation has been continuously strengthened with notable achievements. High-level visits and exchanges between leaders of the two defense ministries, the Vietnam People’s Army and the Japan Self-Defense Forces have been maintained; cooperation in various military services and branches, human resource training, cybersecurity, war consequence remediation, and other fields has been promoted in a practical and effective manner.
General Chien highly appreciated the effective support provided by Japan’s Ministry of Defense to the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense in capacity-building programs, particularly in underwater explosive ordnance disposal, diving medicine, air rescue, cybersecurity, post-war remediation, and maritime security. Humanitarian assistance and war consequence mitigation have been consistently treated as priority areas by both sides, he added.
The Vietnamese deputy defense minister expressed his hope that Minister Koizumi would continue to give opinions to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and other relevant Japanese institutions to further promote cooperation with the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense in war consequence mitigation, especially projects on unexploded ordnance clearance and equipment support for dioxin remediation.
Senior Lieutenant General Chien also informed the Japanese Minister that Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defense would host the 3rd Vietnam International Defense Expo in 2026, and expressed hope for Japan’s active participation, including from the Japanese Ministry of Defense, the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the Japanese defense industry, and Minister Koizumi personally.
On this occasion, he conveyed an invitation from General Phan Van Giang, Vietnamese Minister of National Defense, inviting Minister Koizumi Shinjiro to visit Vietnam at a mutually convenient time.
Minister Koizumi expressed support and willingness to further promote comprehensive, effective cooperation in both traditional and emerging fields where the two sides have strengths and shared interests. He affirmed Japan’s readiness to strengthen collaboration with Vietnam in defense industry cooperation, and expressed his desire to visit Vietnam in the near future.
Earlier, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien and Japanese Vice Minister of Defense Kano Koji signed a letter of intent on training cooperation and a memorandum of understanding on search and rescue cooperation, important documents that will help advance practical and substantive defense cooperation between the two countries in the coming time.
Translated by Trung Thanh