Tokyo (VNA) –Vietnam and Japan willclosely cooperate with each other to bring forward their extensive strategicpartnership for peace and prosperity in Asia into a new period of morecomprehensive and pragmatic development, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

At a joint press conference following his talks withJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on October 8, the Vietnamese government leadersaid that the two sides also agreed to enhance political trust through regularhigh-level visits and meetings, utilize dialogue mechanisms and step upresult-oriented cooperation in national defence and security, as well aspeople-to-people exchange.

They will continue to reinforce economic links,promote Japanese investment in Vietnam, intensify collaboration in major projectson infrastructure, high-quality personnel training, climate change response andVietnam’s industrialization strategy, and further their coordination in usingJapan’s official development assistance (ODA) and preferential loanseffectively.

At the same time, the two sides will strengthentheir affiliation in administrative reform, e-Government building andproductivity improvement, along with other spheres like high-qualityagriculture, environment, education-training, culture, tourism, health care,sports, firefighting and people-to-people exchange.

They pledged to join hands for the success of theMekong-Japan Summit Meeting and to promote the ASEAN-Japan relations as Vietnamis working as coordinator of the ASEAN-Japan Dialogue for 2018-2021.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc said Vietnam has approved theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP),and Vietnam and Japan are pushing ahead with the Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP).

Vietnam welcomes and backs Japan’s efforts andinitiatives to ensure prosperity, free trade and navigation safety in theIndo-Pacific region on the basis of the UN Charter and international law, andrespect for independence and sovereignty of countries, for peace, stability,cooperation and development in the region and the world alike, he said.

Vietnam attaches importance to the prestige and roleof Japan in the present situation, the leader stressed.

Regarding the East Sea issue, PM Phuc said Vietnamand Japan reiterated the significance of ensuring peace, security, safety andfreedom of aviation and navigation in the area, and not using or threatening touse force.

They showed their support for the settlement ofdisputes by peaceful measures on the basis of international law, the 1982United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and respect for diplomaticand legal processes.

Both sides highlighted the need to fully andeffectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea(DOC) and soon finalise an effective and legally binding Code of Conduct in theEast Sea (COC), the PM said.

He used the occasion to express sympathy to Japanover huge losses caused by Trami storm recently.

Speaking at the press conference, PM Shinzo Abeextended his deep condolences over the passing of President Tran Dai Quang andformer General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee DoMuoi.

He said Vietnam’s sustainable development plays animportant role in peace and prosperity in the Mekong region, pledging thatJapan will continue its strong support for Vietnam in high-qualityinfrastructure building, administrative reform, industrial development,productivity improvement and energy.

The host informed that in 2019 when Vietnam andJapan hold the Japan-Mekong Exchange Year, Japan will further expandpeople-to-people exchange between the two countries.

Japan will continue to intensify personnel trainingcooperation with Vietnam via the Asia Health and Well-being Initiative and theJapanese language education initiative, he promised.

The two sides concurred to take measures to preventand handle companies engaging in illegal sending and reception of Vietnameseguest workers.

Given the wide spread of protectionism, Vietnam andJapan will continue to send out messages of trade liberation promotion, andequal and free investment through the CPTPP and RCEP.

PM Shinzo Abe said he will closely partner with PMPhuc to contribute to the success of the ASEAN-Japan Summit Meeting, thushelping increase achievements of bilateral cooperation.

Abe said he and his Vietnamese counterpart agreed toboost coordination in regional and international issues, including the Koreanpeninsula and East Sea issues.
The leaders expressed their resolve to deepen thebilateral ties, for peace and prosperity in the region and the world at large.

At the end of their talks, the two PMs witnessed thehand-over of cooperation documents between ministries, agencies and businessesof the two countries.

The documents include a diplomatic note of exchange onnon-refundable aid to enhance capacity for Vietnam’s Reference Testing andAgrifood Quality Consultancy Centre in order to ensure food safety ofagro-forestry-fishery products.

There were also memoranda of understanding (MoU) coveringcooperation in maritime policy between the Vietnamese Ministry of NaturalResources and Environment and Japan’s Cabinet Office, collaboration in tradeand industry between the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and Japan’sWakayama prefecture, affiliation in firefighting between the VietnameseMinistry of Public Security and the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs andCommunications, between the Vietnam Football Federation and the Japan FootballAssociation, Vietnam-Germany Hospital and Kitahara Hospital of Japan, and theVietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) and Mizuno Group of Japanon cooperation in physical education at Vietnamese primary schools.

An agreement between the MoET and Japan’s NationalPolice Agency, Ministries of Justice, Foreign Affairs, and Education, Culture,Sports, Science and Technology on affairs relating to overseas Vietnamese inJapan was also inked on the occasion.

They also witnessed the signing of a BOT contractbetween the MoIT and Sumitomo Group and Van Phong Power Company Limited on theVan Phong 1 thermal power plant.-VNA