VGP – PM Nguyen Tan Dung on December 12 left Ha Noi to pay an official visit to Japan, attend the ASEAN – Japan Commemorative Summit to mark the 40th anniversary of the ASEAN – Japan dialogue relations and the Mekong – Japan Summit from December 12-15.
In recent times, Viet Nam-Japan strategic partnership has been promoted, especially in economics. Japan is the top economic partner of Viet Nam and the first nation in the Group of Seven that has recognized Viet Nam as the market economy in October 2011.
Japan is also the largest Official Development Assistance (ODA) provider for Viet Nam and the biggest investor of Viet Nam (in terms of both investment capital and disbursement).
Japan is the third largest partner of Viet Nam with bilateral trade turnover recorded US$24.7 billion in 2012 and US$22.933 billion in the first eleven months of 2013.
In addition, the Agreement on Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investments signed in December 2004 and the Japan-Viet Nam Economic Partnership Agreement inked in October 2009 have created a legal framework for bilateral economic and trade development.
The two sides are launching the Viet Nam industrialization strategy within the framework of Viet Nam-Japan cooperation towards 2020, with a vision till 2030.
Cooperative activities in terms of culture, education-training, science-technology, labor and tourism have been held successfully.
The official visit of PM Nguyen Tan Dung, at the invitation of his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, is made to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties. It is expected to strengthen the strategic partnership, especially in fields of economic cooperation, investment, development assistance and the coordination between Viet Nam and Japan at international and regional forums./.