Hanoi (VNA) – Japan attaches special importance to itscooperation with Vietnam, which is reflected through the more regular exchangeof high-level delegations between the two countries and higher level of trustbetween their leaders in recent years.

Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Kunio Umeda made the statement in an interviewgranted to Vietnam News Agency on the occasion of the 45th anniversary ofbilateral diplomatic ties (September 21, 1973-2018).

According to the diplomat, the Vietnam-Japan relationship is now at its highestlevel so far, based on mutual trust and close attachment. As the two nationsshare many strategic benefits, Japan wishes to strengthen collaboration withVietnam on the basis of basic perceptions of Vietnam’s sustainable economicdevelopment and capacity enhancement to ensure national defence and security.

“This is especially important to the stability and prosperity of Japan, as wellas the whole Asia-Pacific region”, he said, adding that the enhancement ofbilateral cooperation is becoming more and more significant as the world hasbeen witnessing changing global relations.

Regarding priority cooperation areas between the two countries, the diplomat saidVietnam is now in a great transition phase in terms of politics and economy,with abundant energy sources for growth. If the country can bring into fullplay these sources, it will see great strides.

“I hope that Vietnam can fully tap that opportunity to grow strongly,” he said.

Bilateral economic cooperation has developed drastically in recent times, withthe increasing attention from Japanese businesses towards Vietnam reflectedthrough the number of Japanese enterprises and projects popping up in theSoutheast Asian nation, the ambassador.

In 2017, Japan’s direct investment in Vietnam hit 9.1 billion USD, the highestlevel so far. The figure for the first half of this year was 6.5 billion USD,making Japan the largest foreign investor in Vietnam.

More than 3,100 Japanese businesses have landed investment in Vietnam, markingan increase of 40 percent in four years. Japanese firms now top 1,700 membersof the Japanese Business Association in Vietnam, surpassing those in Thailand.

The Japanese side wishes to continue cooperating with Vietnam, especially inboosting the growth of its economy, the ambassador said, noting that Japan hasbeen busy implementing an array of collaboration programmes with Vietnam indeveloping hardware infrastructure, such as bridges, seaports, airports, andexpressways.

Regarding software infrastructure, Japan has partnered with Vietnam inperfecting the latter’s legal system, training human resources, and improvinglabour productivity, he added.

In the coming time, together with expanding investment areas and scale, theJapanese side expects to continue cooperating with Vietnam in infrastructuredevelopment, thus supporting its sustainable development.

The diplomat said his country also hopes to join hands with Vietnam to improveits administration capacity.

Joining Vietnam’s administrative reform efforts, Japan will share all of its experience– both successes and failures – with Vietnam, he stated.

“As Japan is prone to natural disasters and Vietnam is one of the countrieshardest hit by climate change, we wish to enhance affiliation in this field inorder to minimise negative impact of climate change on Vietnam,” said Kunio Umeda.

Regarding prospects for bilateral collaboration – as both Vietnam and Japan aremembers of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-PacificPartnership (CPTPP), formerly the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) – theambassador stated that at the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week 2017 held inVietnam’s central city of Da Nang in November last year, the two countriesco-chaired the TPP Ministerial Meeting, during which several importantdecisions were made, such as the titular change.

This is just one of the cooperation achievements between Japan and Vietnam, hesaid, adding that in the context of rising protectionism in several economies,bringing the CPTPP into force at an early date is particularly crucial to bothcountries.

Six of the 11 participating economies must complete domestic ratificationprocedures to make the deal effective. At present, only three economies havecompleted such procedures, namely Mexico, Japan, and Singapore.

It is known that the Vietnamese National Assembly will verify laws related tothe CPTTP at its upcoming session, he said, expressing his hopes that Vietnamwill become one of the first six economies to ratify the agreement.

If the CPTTP comes into force, Vietnam’s exports will surely increase, hepredicted.

On measures to boost cultural and educational cooperation as well aspeople-to-people exchange, the ambassador said as 2018 marks the 45thanniversary of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic ties, more than 170 related events arescheduled to take place in both countries this year.

At the Vietnamese Festivals in Tokyo, Yokohama of Kanagawa prefecture, andAichi prefecture, around 100,000 Japanese people came to have an insight of theland, culture and cuisine of Vietnam.

Meanwhile, in Hanoi, the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam has coordinated with organisationsand friendship associations in arranging a wide variety of celebrationactivities, including a concert of NHK orchestra on September 7 and theVietnam-Japan Music Festival 2018 on September 15.

In the field of educational cooperation, Kunio Umeda said that alongsideconnections between Vietnamese and Japanese universities and projects toincrease the number of Japanese language learners, new cooperation activitieshave also been deployed, including sharing experience in organising lunches at publicschools, and music and physical training at high schools in Vietnam.

The Vietnam-Japan University, a symbolic project for the bilateralcollaboration in this field, is expected to see gigantic developments in thetime to come, he noted.

In addition, Japan has also paid close attention to exchanges between the twocountries’ youths, especially in sports, he said, hoping that many Vietnameseathletes will take part in the next Olympics and Paralympics to be held inTokyo in 2020. –VNA