Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (Source: VNA) Tokyo (VNA) – Deputy PrimeMinister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh met Japanese leaders during hisongoing visit to Japan from May 8-10 at the invitation of Japanese ForeignMinister Fumio Kishida.
Meeting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,Speaker of the House of Representatives Tadamori Oshima and President of theJapan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Shinichi Kitaoka, Minh expressedhis delight at the strong and substantial development of the Vietnam-Japan extensivestrategic partnership in diverse areas over the past years.
PM Abe thanked President Tran DaiQuang for inviting him to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2017 andpledged sweeping support to preparations for the event in Da Nang and attendingthe group’s meetings.
Meanwhile Speaker Oshima, for hispart, hailed Vietnam as one of the important partners in the region and wishedto continue further promoting bilateral ties with Japan.
JICA President Kitaoka saidVietnam is JICA’s largest cooperative partner in the world and vowed to do hisbest to contribute to Vietnam’s economic development.
Minh affirmed that the VietnameseParty, State and Government always consider Japan a leading and long-termstrategic partner and stand ready to further deepen the extensive strategicpartnership between the two nations.
During the talks between the twoFMs and the ninth session of the Vietnam-Japan Cooperation Committee (VJCC),both sides debated specific measures to effectively implement agreements reachedby the two countries’ high-ranking leaders during the Vietnam visit by PM Abelast January as well as scheduled agenda for the upcoming Japan visit by PMNguyen Xuan Phuc.
They agreed to regularly maintainvisits and exchanges by high-ranking leaders, especially on the occasion of the45th anniversary of the bilateral ties next year while improving the efficiencyof cooperation and dialogue mechanisms between the two countries, including theVJCC and the two foreign ministries’ dialogue mechanisms.
Host and guest vowed to hold theVJCC’s second session on cooperation in industry, trade and energy in June andearly organise the fourth high-level agriculture dialogue in the second half ofthis year.
On the economic cooperation, theyreached a common consensus on promoting bilateral economic connectivity andworking closely together to effectively implement the sixth stage of theVietnam-Japan Joint Initiative to Improve Business Environment while strengthenjoint work in industry and energy.
Japanese FM Kishida promisedcontinued support to Vietnam’s economic development via the provision ofofficial development assistance (ODA) and increased partnership oninfrastructure building.
Japan will assist Vietnam incarrying out action plans of six industries chosen in Vietnam’sindustrialisation strategy within the Vietnam-Japan collaboration framework until2020 with a vision to 2030, encourage Japanese investment in Vietnam and assistthe country in the reform of State-owned enterprises.
The two sides consented to lookinto measures to develop Vietnam’s support and automobile industry as well asmake it easier for Vietnamese agro-fisheries to enter Japan.
Deputy PM Minh, in reply,stressed that the Vietnamese government highly values and strives toeffectively use ODA funded by Japan.
He asked for Japan’s technicalsupport to strengthen pollution monitoring in Vietnam’s key industries such ascoal-fueled thermal power, steel and chemical fertilizer, and build the Law onSupport Industry Development.
Apart from agreeing to increasepartnership across agriculture, climate change response, personnel training andlabour, they lauded active negotiations by the two countries’ ministries andagencies towards the early signing of a MoU on Joint Crediting Mechanism and aMoU on cooperation in support for apprentices.
The Japanese side pledgedassistance to Vietnam in implementing a project on reforming politicalapparatus and training leaders of all rankings, especially those at strategicranking, and wished to receive more Vietnamese apprentices in agriculture,nursing and construction with all possible support.
The two leaders promised closejoint work to prevent receiving illegal workers from the both nations.
The two countries will alsofortify links across culture, sports and people-to-people exchange on theoccasion of the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties next year, aswell as further ties between localities, thereby facilitating technologytransfer and investment.
On global and regional issues ofshared concern, host and guest vowed to offer mutual support at global andregional forums such as the East Asia Summit, the ASEAN, the Asia-EuropeMeeting and the United Nations while consolidating partnership in internationaleconomic connectivity such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnershipand seeking appropriate solutions to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The Vietnamese FM asked Japan toback Vietnam’s run for non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the2020-2021 tenure and UNESCO General Director for the 2017-2021 tenure.
Kishida said Japan fully supportsVietnam and will work closely with the country to successfully hold the APECYear 2017.
As regards the East Sea issue,both sides shared the international community’s deep concern over the recentdevelopments in the East Sea and agreed on the importance of ensuring peace,security, maritime and aviation safety and freedom, and the settlement of disputesby peaceful means in line with international law, especially the 1982 UnitedNations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct ofParties in the East Sea (DOC), and reaching a Code of Conduct in the East Sea(COC) soon.-VNA
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