Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucattended the 3rd Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)Summit and met with Japanese PM Abe Shinzo on November 4, wrapping up hisactivities at the 35th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits.

At the RCEP Summit, participating leaders issued a jointstatement concluding that the countries involved have completed text-based negotiationsfor all 20 chapters of the RCEP and essentially all their market access issues.

India has some unsolved problems, so RCEP participating countieswill work together to resolve these outstanding issues in a mutuallysatisfactory way. The pact will be scrutinized in preparation for its signingin 2020.

The RCEP is a multilateral trade agreement between the 10member states of ASEAN - Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar,the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - and its six Free TradeAgreement partners, namely China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, NewZealand and India.

Once formed, the RCEP will have a combined population of3.56 billion people and a trade value of over 1 trillion USD, or 29 percent ofthe global total.

During a meeting with his Japanese counterpart, PM Phucstated Vietnam considers Japan a trustworthy and long-standing partner with whichit shares several mutual strategic benefits.


Vietnam supports Japan in promoting its role regionally andglobally, he said.

Abe took the occasion to thank Vietnam for its assistance toJapan as the coordinator of ASEAN-Japan relations.

Japan is looking forward to Vietnam assuming its ASEANchairmanship next year, the leader added, stating that the two countries willwork together to tackle regional and global challenges.

Both PMs were pleased with the comprehensive and robustgrowth of the Vietnam – Japan extensive strategic partnership.

They agreed to increase exchanges of all-level delegations,particularly high-ranking ones, and strengthen bilateral cooperation in trade,investment, infrastructure construction, labour, and ODA use.

They also highlighted the importance of stepping up bilateralcoordination at multilateral forums in response to regional and globalchallenges, including the East Sea issue./.