Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is about to go to Japan.

This is Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's second trip to Japan in 2023, both times attending a multilateral event.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh - Photo: VGP

According to the announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will attend the ASEAN-Japan Summit and have bilateral activities in Japan from December 15 to 18. The trip takes place at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, marking the second time in 2023 that the head of the Vietnamese Government has visited Japan. In May this year, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited Japan to attend the G7 Summit at the invitation of Mr. Kishida Fumio. It is expected that during the visit, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will meet a number of leaders of ASEAN countries and Japan. The Prime Minister will also have activities with businesses of the two countries, visit a locality in Japan and a number of other multilateral activities. The ASEAN-Japan Summit was held just three months after the two sides decided to upgrade their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in Indonesia. For Vietnam, this trip took place less than a month after Vietnam and Japan upgraded their relationship to "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World". This made Japan the sixth country in the world to establish relations at this level with Vietnam. Therefore, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's trip carries many expectations and messages not only from Vietnam but also from ASEAN, an organization in which Vietnam plays an increasingly important role. The Prime Minister's bilateral activities are expected to concretize what the two countries achieved during the recent visit to Japan by President Vo Van Thuong, including the joint statement between the two sides. The Vietnam - Japan Joint Statement consists of 52 points, emphasizing the achievements over the past 50 years and looking towards a new chapter in bilateral relations, for peace and prosperity of both countries, the region and the world. In particular, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio affirmed that Japan is committed to supporting a "strong, independent, self-reliant, and successful industrialization and modernization" Vietnam. Japan reaffirmed its continued support for Vietnam in building an independent, self-reliant economy, deeply integrating into the international community, and industrializing and modernizing with the goal of becoming a developed country by 2045. The two sides will strengthen cooperation in areas such as infrastructure, digital transformation, green transformation, climate change response, healthcare, etc.

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