Tokyo (VNA) – Vietnam and Japanheld a defence consultation meeting in Tokyo on February 21 in preparation forASEAN Year 2020.

The Vietnamese side shared activities to be heldin 2020 when the country assumes the role of ASEAN Chair and non-permanentmember of the UN Security Council.

Japan believed that with careful preparation,Vietnam would successfully host important activities, including ASEAN DefenceMinisters Meeting (ADMM ), 10th anniversary of ADMM , international exhibitionof defence equipment, and international conference on the role of women and UNpeacekeeping activities.

Regarding bilateral defence partnership, the twosides agreed to boost the exchange of delegations, especially among high-level ones,maintain and improve collaboration mechanisms, particularly thedeputy-ministerial defence policy dialogue, UN peacekeeping, cyber security,search and rescue, and settlement of post-war consequences.

The same day, Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen ChiVinh had talks with his Japanese counterpart Nishida Yasunori.

Earlier he met with Japanese Minister of DefenceTaro Kono.

He invited the minister to pay an officialvisit to Vietnam at a convenient time, and attend the ADMM , scheduled for October2020.

The Japanese minister accepted the invitationwith pleasure and affirmed his support for Vietnam in the ASEAN ChairmanshipYear 2020.

He also voiced his hope of organising theASEAN-Japan Defence Ministers' Informal Meeting on the sidelines of the ADMMin Vietnam./.