Tokyo – Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio have reached a significant agreement to upgrade the Vietnam-Japan relationship to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World.’ This decision was made during their talks in Tokyo on November 27.
According to Vietnam News Agency, the two leaders reflected on the past 50 years of bilateral ties, recognizing the strong and comprehensive development across various sectors. The leaders acknowledged high political trust and robust connectivity in economy, human resources, and locality-to-locality bonds as key features of the relationship.
President Thuong, on his official visit to Japan, emphasized the exemplary and sincere cooperation between Vietnam and Japan, with considerable potential and prospects for the future. In line with this, the leaders agreed to elevate the Vietnam-Japan relationship to a new level of partnership.
Under the new partnership framework, the leaders exchanged detailed opinions and agreed on major directions and measures to intensify cooperation. These efforts aim to foster a stronger and broader development of the relations, fulfilling both countries’ demands and common interests, and contributing to regional and global peace and stability.
The two leaders agreed to increase high-level exchanges and meetings through various channels, including state, government, and parliament, and to implement effective bilateral dialogue mechanisms. They also concurred on enhancing practical and effective defense cooperation based on the Joint Vision Statement on Vietnam-Japan Defense Cooperation.
Economic linkages are set to be strengthened, with a focus on ensuring economic security and expanding cooperation in areas like innovation, technology transfer, digital transformation, and green transition. PM Kishida reaffirmed Japan’s support for Vietnam’s industrialization, modernization, and aim to become a developed country by 2045.
President Thuong acknowledged the significant contributions of Japanese ODA to Vietnam’s socio-economic development and called for new-generation ODA loans focusing on strategic infrastructure, digital transformation, climate change response, and health care. He also encouraged Japanese investment in Vietnam and technology transfer in various sectors.
The leaders agreed to enhance human resource connectivity, locality-to-locality cooperation, tourism links, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges. President Thuong suggested organizing an annual locality-to-locality cooperation forum and hoped for Japan’s continued assistance in training high-quality human resources and relaxing visa procedures for Vietnamese citizens.
Amidst regional and global developments, both sides affirmed their commitment to coordinate on issues of common concern, contribute to regional and global peace and stability, and support each other at multilateral forums and organizations. PM Kishida expressed support for Vietnam hosting the APEC Year 2027 and for carbon neutrality goals in Asia.
President Thuong stated Vietnam’s readiness to contribute to the success of the ASEAN-Japan 50th anniversary summit in December. Following the talks, the leaders adopted a joint statement on elevating Vietnam-Japan relations and witnessed the signing of cooperation documents between various ministries and sectors of the two countries.