The upcoming visit by State President Truong Tan Sang to Japan ishighlighted as a significant political event that will bolster bilateralpolitical trust and strategic partnership in the light of regional andglobal rapid changes.

The four-day visit isto start from March 16, said Charge d’Affaires ad Interim at theJapanese Embassy in Hanoi Suzuki Hideo at a press conference in Hanoion March 13.

President Sang will deliver aspeech at the Japanese Lower House, which is deemed a highlight of theforthcoming visit as only a few of foreign heads of state have a chanceto speak before Japan’s Parliament.

During thepress conference, the Japanese official also hailed Vietnam for sparingno effort to search for the Malaysian Airliner plane that went missingon March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Vietnam and Japan established their diplomatic ties on September 21,1973. The bilateral relationship has been growing unceasingly from areliable partnership in 2002 to a strategic partnership in 2009.

Two-way trade was estimated at 25.6 billion USD in 2013. The twosides set a target of at least doubling their trade turnover by 2020.

Japan was Vietnam’s leading investor with itscapital totalling 5.7 billion USD in 2013, making up 26.6 percent offoreign direct investment (FDI) poured into Vietnam.

It remains the leading ODA donor to Vietnam, providing a total amountof 21 billion USD in ODA to the Southeast Asian country from 1992 to2013.

Both countries are working together in negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.-VNA