Japanese Ambassador: Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru's visit prioritizes and focuses on Vietnam

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on the occasion of attending the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and related Summits in Vientiane, Laos, October 11, 2024. (Source: VGP)

According to the announcement on April 23 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the invitation of Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Pham Minh Chinh and his wife, Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and his wife will pay an official visit to Vietnam from April 27-29.

On the same day, the Japanese Prime Minister's Office announced that Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru will pay a four-day visit to Vietnam and the Philippines, starting from April 27. Thus, the Japanese leader's time in Vietnam will account for three-quarters of his official trip.

Ahead of this event, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Ito Naoki shared with the press the purpose and key cooperation contents that Japan wants to promote during the visit.

Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Ito Naoki. (Photo: Thu Trang)

Top diplomatic priority

Recognizing that Southeast Asia is currently the growth center of the world economy and is located in an important strategic position, Ambassador Ito Naoki affirmed that strengthening diplomatic relations with Southeast Asian countries is one of Japan's top diplomatic priorities.

Ambassador Ito Naoki noted that normally the Japanese Parliament will have a long session in May and June, so there is only one week during this period, often called "golden week", to make an overseas trip. This time, Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru decided to visit Vietnam and the Philippines, thereby showing the strategic importance of the two countries to Japan.

In particular, strengthening relations with Vietnam, a country with a population of more than 100 million people and a dynamic economy with great development potential, is especially important to the land of the rising sun.

"This visit is an opportunity for Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru to continue to strengthen his personal relationship with Vietnamese leaders, while enhancing bilateral cooperation in areas such as defense and security, and economy, as well as responding to regional and international challenges. Through this visit, Japan hopes to further promote high-level diplomatic activities towards realizing the goal of a free and open Indo-Pacific based on the spirit of the rule of law," said the Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam.

Since taking office in October 2024, Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has met Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh twice. The first time was at the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane (Laos) and the second time was at the G20 Summit in Brazil. In November 2024, Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru also met with President Luong Cuong in Peru on the occasion of the APEC Summit and met with National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man during his visit to Japan in December 2024. And Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has not had the opportunity to meet General Secretary To Lam. Therefore, Ambassador Ito Naoki emphasized that this visit will be an opportunity for the Japanese leader to build and nurture relations with General Secretary To Lam and other senior leaders.

According to Ambassador Ito Naoki, under the leadership of General Secretary To Lam, Vietnam is now entering an era of national growth. "Japan believes that the new era of Vietnam will be a great opportunity to further consolidate and expand the cooperative relationship between the two countries within the framework of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the world," Ambassador Ito Naoki shared.

Overview of the press conference on Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru's visit to Vietnam. (Photo: Thu Trang)

Three pillars of cooperation

The Japanese diplomat said that through Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru's visit, Japan wishes to promote cooperation, demonstrating its commitment to its role as Vietnam's leading partner in the new era. Vietnam-Japan cooperation currently focuses on three pillars: cooperation in the fields of economics - investment - trade; cooperation in the field of security; and promoting people-to-people exchanges through culture.

In the economic field, Vietnam-Japan cooperation is very important for Vietnam to realize its goal of becoming a developed country by 2045. Japan's total accumulated investment capital in Vietnam is 77.7 billion USD. Bilateral trade turnover is on track to reach nearly 50 billion USD, an increase of 1.8 times over the past 10 years.

According to Ambassador Ito Naoki, the Japanese Government and businesses are making efforts to expand and further increase the results of bilateral economic cooperation and hope that Vietnam will continue to improve the investment environment, simplify administrative procedures and speed up the licensing process for projects.

During this visit, Japan will promote specific cooperation in new areas such as digital transformation, green transformation, innovation, and science and technology to meet Vietnam's further development needs.

In the energy sector, cooperation between Japan and Vietnam is being implemented through the Asian Zero Emission Community (AZEC) initiative initiated by Japan. The two countries have agreed on 15 Japanese investment projects in renewable energy, including offshore wind power and solar power generation, with an investment scale of up to 20 billion USD. During the upcoming visit, the two countries may have further discussions on the implementation of these projects.

Another important area of ​​cooperation between the two countries is the development of highly skilled human resources in fields such as semiconductors. The two sides are strengthening joint research activities on semiconductors, as well as developing young human resources in this industry.

In the security field, the two countries will continue to build on existing achievements and expand discussions to further promote security cooperation.

Besides, the Japanese diplomat also noted that people-to-people exchange and cultural ties are also very important areas to enhance mutual understanding between the people of the two countries.

Currently, the number of Vietnamese people living in Japan is up to 630,000 people, the number of Vietnamese tourists to Japan is 620,000 people, and the number of Japanese tourists to Vietnam is 710,000 people. Assessing the importance of enhancing people-to-people exchanges, Ambassador Ito Naoki affirmed that he will continue to make efforts to ensure that Japan remains the market that young Vietnamese people choose to find jobs, then return to Vietnam and contribute to the country.

There are currently 170,000 people studying Japanese in Vietnam. Although this is not a small number, Japan wants to increase it further, especially high-level Japanese human resources. During Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru's visit, the Japanese Embassy is coordinating with the Ministry of Education and Training to develop a framework program to increase the number of Japanese language learners in the medium and long term.

On multilateral and international issues, Ambassador Ito Naoki said that the two countries need to continue to cooperate more closely to address common challenges, especially when the global situation is constantly changing.

"Vietnam is pursuing a proactive foreign policy at multilateral forums such as the United Nations, ASEAN... and Japan also wishes to further promote cooperation and linkages to support Vietnam's orientation... I believe that strengthening cooperation at international forums will be one of the main topics on the agenda of Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru's visit," said Ambassador Ito Naoki.

Emphasizing that the visit takes place in the context of the bilateral relationship developing very well and the S-shaped country is in the joyful atmosphere of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification, Ambassador Ito Naoki expressed his hope that Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru's visit will receive a warm welcome and be a great success, contributing to reaffirming Japan's role as a leading important partner with Vietnam.

On this occasion, Ambassador Ito Naoki introduced the Osaka Kansai Expo currently taking place in Japan. (Photo: Thu Trang)

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/dai-su-nhat-ban-chuyen-tham-danh-uu-tien-va-dat-trong-tam-vao-viet-nam-cua-thu-tuong-ishiba-shigeru-312120.html