Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at Vietnam-Japan University (Source: VNA) The trip is also expected to promoteeconomic ties at the central and local level and reflect Vietnam’s active rolein the region.
From the reliable, stable andlong-term partnership framework established in April 2002, the two nationsupgraded their relations to the extensive strategic partnership for peace andprosperity in Asia in March 2014.
While in Japan in September 2015,Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe issued aDeclaration on Joint Vision for Vietnam-Japan Relationship.
Japan is Vietnam’s economic partnerof top significance and the first G7 country to recognise Vietnam as a marketeconomy.
In 2016, two-way trade hit 29.7billion USD. In the first four months of this year, the figure passed 10billion USD, up 16 percent annually.
Japan is the largest supplier ofofficial development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam, accounting for around 30percent of the total.
Over the past years, the twocountries have made breakthroughs in agricultural link with the signing of the Mediumto Long-term Vision for Vietnam-Japan Agricultural Cooperation.
Japan continually provides ODA forVietnam in climate change response, and has pledged to study mid- and long-termassistance to Vietnam in the regard.
On the educational front, Japan isone of the biggest suppliers of non-refundable aid for Vietnam’seducation-training. The number of Vietnamese students in Japan neared 60,000 inlate 2016. Japan is working to help Vietnam upgrade its four universities andassist the country in Japanese teaching in several secondary schools in Hanoiand Ho Chi Minh City.
In the four months of this year, upto 261,571 Japanese tourists arrived in Vietnam, ranking third behind China andthe Republic of Korea (RoK). Locality-to-locality cooperation has been stronglyreinforced.
At present, around 13,500 Japanesepeople are living in Vietnam while 170,000 Vietnamese are working and living inJapan.
On June 2, Japan’s Nikkei ran an articleby Prof. Pham Quang Minh, Rector of the University of Social Sciences andHumanities under the Vietnam National University-Hanoi, which described PMPhuc’s upcoming visit as a symbol of a new step in the Vietnam-Japan strategicpartnership for peace and prosperity in Asia.
In the context of regional and global politics encountering complicateddevelopments, the two countries should step up cooperation across the board,Minh wrote.
In an interview granted to VietnamNews Agency in Japan, Prof. Kenichi Ohno from the Japan National GraduateInstitute for Policy Studies said Vietnam is always among the five countriesfavoured by Japanese enterprises.
He expressed his belief thatfollowing the visit, bilateral ties will further progress.
Prof. Fujimoto Koji, who specialisesin international cooperation from the Tokyo-based Takushoku University,commented that the visit would contribute to multi-faceted ties between the twocountries, particularly in the field of economy.-VNA
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