The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in coordination with the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam, the Organising Committee for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Japan-Vietnam diplomatic relations, and Japanese agencies and organisations, organised the Meet Japan 2023 conference in Hanoi on November 2.

Meet Japan is part of events held annually by the Foreign Ministry to assist localities in promoting international integration and attract external resources for socio-economic development.

The conference, held annually since 2017, was attended by 900 delegates from both countries. 

Addressing the conference, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son highlighted that Vietnam-Japan cooperation is at its best stage of development in the history of the two countries’ relations, with economic, trade, and investment cooperation being bright spots in the ties.

He said Japan is always one of Vietnam’s most important economic partners, the number one partner in official development assistance (ODA), second in labour, third in investment and tourism, and fourth in trade.

According to research results of the Japan Trade Promotion Organisation (JETRO), 70% of surveyed Japanese businesses investing in Vietnam intend to continue and expand operations in Vietnam, and 88% of them expect their revenue in Vietnam will increase in the future.

The FM noted that along with the development trend of bilateral ties, the exchange and cooperation between localities of the two countries have also developed strongly and substantially. He said about 100 pairs of localities establishing cooperation relations with over 110 cooperative documents signed in diverse fields, from investment, trade, labour to cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

The minister affirmed that the Foreign Ministry and Vietnamese diplomatic representative agencies in Japan consider supporting Vietnamese localities to connect with Japanese partners as an important task.

According to him, over the past five years, the ministry helped with the arrangement for 15-20 delegations of leaders of provinces and centrally-run cities to pay working visit to Japan each year. It also held the Meet Japan conference annually from 2017 to help connect 34 cities and provinces in the central, central highlands and southwestern regions with the Japanese Embassy and important agencies of Japan.

Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Yamada Takio emphasised that 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Vietnam, which is a new milestone in the cooperative relations between the two countries.

The two countries are cooperating extensively in ensuring political security, economics, culture, education, and human exchange and are truly becoming each other’s comprehensive strategic partner.

The Ambassador hopes that cooperation between Japanese and Vietnamese localities will be promoted more strongly.

Within the framework of the conference, three thematic sessions took place on the topics of strengthening trade and investment; education - training and human resource cooperation, and cooperation in developing culture and tourism.

VNA