Siem Reap (VNA) – The parliamentary cooperation between Vietnam and Japan hasbecome an important factor in fostering the two nations’ comprehensiverelations, said a senior lawmaker of Vietnam.

Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly’s Committee for External RelationsNguyen Van Giau made the statement while receiving a delegation of Japanese parliamentariansin Siem Reap, Cambodia on January 15 on the sidelines of the 27th Asia-PacificParliamentary Forum (APPF) Annual Meeting (APPF-27).

The Japanese delegation was led by Takuji Yanagimoto, head of the JapaneseDelegation to APPF-27 and Representative of Honourary President of the APPF YasuhiroNakasone.

Takuji spoke highly of the Vietnamese NA’s efforts in hosting the APPF-26 lastyear, affirming that Vietnam is a leading partner of Japan in Southeast Asia.

Sharing views with Giau, he said in addition to the enhanced political exchangeand trust between the two countries’ high-ranking leaders, via bilateral andmultilateral parliamentary diplomacy, the legislatures of Vietnam and Japanwill contribute to strengthening the parliamentary partnership for peace, securityand sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region.

Giau and Takuji noted with pleasure the regular exchange of visits by the twocountries’ senior leaders, including those to Vietnam by the Japanese Emperorand Empress, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2017.

President Tran Dai Quang and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visits to Japanin 2018 opened up a new development stage of the bilateral ties in a morecomprehensive and practical manner.

The Vietnamese official said he is pleased with the strongly developingeconomic, trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and Japan, stressingthat Vietnam considers Japan a leading and long-term partner. He expressed hiswish that the two sides will continuously expand their effective and pragmaticrelations in all fields, meeting the aspirations of the two countries’ businessesand people as well as for peace and prosperity in the region and the world.

In the overall Vietnam-Japan relationship, the collaboration between the twolegislative bodies has been developing fruitfully with the regular exchange of high-rankingdelegations and discussions on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and other issues of common concern, he said.

At the meeting, Giau and the Japanese parliamentarians exchanged their views onopportunities and challenges from CPTPP and expressed their delight at therecent strengthened cooperation between friendship parliamentarians’ groups andlocalities as well as people-to-people exchange.

The number of Vietnamese students in Japan is increasing day by day and theVietnamese community in Japan now surpasses 290,000, four times higher than thefigure five years ago.

The Japanese lawmakers hoped that the two sides will well implement the signedcooperation documents in education and labour.

Giau also expressed his wish that with efforts by both sides, the Vietnam-JapanUniversity in Vietnam will become a symbol of educational cooperation between thetwo countries.-VNA