Prime Minister proposes Japan to support new generation ODA for some major infrastructure projects

On the afternoon of January 8, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Japanese Finance Minister Kato Katsunobu, who is visiting and working in Vietnam.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Japanese Finance Minister Kato Katsunobu - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

At the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh welcomed the delegation of the Japanese Ministry of Finance to visit Vietnam; he was pleased to witness the increasingly strong, substantive and effective development of the bilateral relationship in all areas. In 2023, the two countries upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the world.

Leaders of the two countries regularly meet with high political trust. Japan continues to be Vietnam's leading economic partner, the largest provider of bilateral ODA and loans, the first labor cooperation partner, the third investor, and the fourth trade and tourism partner of Vietnam.

The Vietnamese community living, studying and working in Japan currently numbers about 600,000 people, making it the second largest foreign community in Japan. Cooperation between localities is bustling, and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries are vibrant. Defense and security cooperation is strengthened…

Thanking the Minister for always showing affection and supporting cooperation with Vietnam and affirming that financial cooperation is an important pillar in bilateral relations, the Prime Minister highly appreciated the Japanese side for providing Vietnam with effective financial support to implement large-scale infrastructure investment projects with great spillover effects, such as Nhat Tan Bridge, Terminal T2 of Noi Bai International Airport and most recently, Ho Chi Minh City Metro Line No. 1 (Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien) which has officially been put into commercial operation since the end of December 2024.

The Prime Minister said that recently, the parties have carried out many restructuring measures to improve the operational efficiency of the Nghi Son oil refinery project (Thanh Hoa) and have had initial results; he requested the Minister to have a voice to encourage the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to be more active in participating in restructuring this project in the spirit of harmonizing interests and sharing risks so that the project can truly be a symbol of effective cooperation and mutual benefit between the parties.

The Prime Minister said that in the current period, Vietnam needs large capital sources for development, implementing projects at a fast and effective pace, striving for GDP growth of at least 8% in 2025 and reaching double digits in the following years to achieve the country's development goals by 2030 and 2045.

To achieve this goal, in addition to continuing to strongly promote internal strength and the spirit of self-reliance, cooperation and support from international partners, including Japan, are very important to Vietnam. In the spirit of a "sincere, affectionate, and trustworthy" relationship, the Prime Minister proposed that Japan continue to provide financial support and promote new-generation ODA for Vietnam in line with the current situation with preferential interest rates, simple mechanisms, flexible procedures, and rapid implementation to carry out strategic infrastructure projects that change the status quo and turn the situation around, especially the North-South high-speed railway project, nuclear power, and urban railway projects in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Along with that, continue to cooperate in technology transfer, support the building and improvement of institutions, train human resources, and improve management capacity on a larger scale, faster speed, wider scope, with focus, key points, and concentration on a number of large projects.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed that Japan support new generation ODA for a number of large infrastructure projects - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Regarding human resource development, the Prime Minister thanked the Japanese Government for providing scholarship programs, as well as receiving and training Vietnamese interns in Japan; and proposed to continue promoting cooperation in the field of education and training.

Thanking the Japanese Government for providing aid to Vietnam to support recovery from the impact of Typhoon Yagi, the Prime Minister said that Vietnam hopes to continue receiving support from Japan in projects to develop infrastructure to respond to natural disasters and climate change, projects under the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and the Asian Zero Net Emission Community (AZEC) mechanisms...

Along with that, promoting investment and trade cooperation, exchanging products with strengths of both sides; cooperation between localities; cooperation in science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, exploitation of underground space, sea space, outer space, etc.

The Prime Minister said that Vietnam will prepare a list of specific projects for Japan to study, implement cooperation and strongly promote the activities of the specialized working group to cooperate with Japan, contributing to further developing the friendly cooperation and comprehensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia and the world between Vietnam and Japan, in depth, substance and effectiveness.

The Prime Minister also thanked and asked Japan to continue creating favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live, study and work in this country.

For his part, Minister Kato Katsunobu highly appreciated Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's affection for Japan and his important contributions to bilateral relations; affirming that Vietnam is very close to Japan and him personally.

The Minister expressed his impression of Vietnam's high growth rate, reaching 7.09% in 2024 and aiming for double-digit growth; assessed that Vietnam is in the golden population stage and has many development opportunities.

The Minister affirmed that he will actively support and promote mutually beneficial cooperation in areas of mutual interest, especially the contents mentioned by the Prime Minister.

The Minister said that Japan is continuing to review favorable policies for foreigners, in which Vietnamese people account for about 1/4 of the total number of foreigners in Japan and have made many positive contributions to the country.

Many cooperation projects between the two countries have been completed, put into operation and exploited. The Minister suggested that both sides make more efforts to resolve difficulties, promote existing projects and implement new projects. He will continue to report to the Japanese Government and discuss with Japanese enterprises about cooperation with Vietnam in strategic infrastructure projects. He will also discuss with JBIC about the content mentioned by the Prime Minister regarding the Nghi Son project.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh conveyed his regards and invitation to Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru to visit Vietnam at the earliest. Minister Kato Katsunobu conveyed the greetings and regards of Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and said that he would convey Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's invitation to visit to Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru.

* Minister Kato Katsunobu is a person who has affection for Vietnam and has made many important contributions to Vietnam in the past, especially in his position as Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Kato actively supported and assisted Vietnam with medical supplies, especially COVID-19 vaccines, and had many policies to support the Vietnamese community in Japan during the pandemic (cash subsidies, treatment support, and extension of work contracts).

Source: https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/thu-tuong-de-nghi-nhat-ban-ho-tro-oda-the-he-moi-cho-mot-so-du-an-ha-tang-lon-385466.html