Government chief meets former Japanese PM
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held a meeting with former Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide on December 18 in Tokyo within the framework of his trip to the East Asian nation for the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation.
During the meeting, PM Chinh greatly valued the sentiments that the former PM has given the Vietnamese side, as well as his contributions to mutual relations, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when Japan donated 7.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam as non-refundable aid.
He expressed his hopes that the former Japanese PM will continue to work to turn the Vietnam-Japan comprehensive strategic partnership into specific programmes and projects with practical efficiency.
The Vietnamese Government leader also suggested that Suga assist the strengthening of economic connections and co-operation in trade, investment, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. This is along with bilateral collaboration in new areas such as digital transformation, innovation, climate change, energy transition, green transition, circular economy, and the shared economy.
He went on to propose that Suga support and accelerate the Japanese side to re-provide new-generation ODA loans for Vietnam with simpler and more flexible procedures.
In response, the former Japanese PM, who is advisor to the Japan-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance, hailed the sound development of joint ties with the elevation of ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership. He said that the Vietnamese PM’s trip to Japan will help open up a new period of development for bilateral relations.
He highly valued the increase in number and contributions made by Vietnamese workers in Japan, underlining that the two sides should work more closely together to overcome social challenges for sustainable development.
Suga affirmed his willingness to continue accompanying and collaborating with the nation to further reinforce the ties of friendship between the two countries, along with incentivizing businesses of the two sides to step up co-operation in trade, investment, and labour.
