The newly elected Prime Minister of Japan – Yoshihide Suga and the Prime Minister of Socialist Republic of Vietnam – Nguyen Xuan Phuc have agreed to step up security and economic cooperation, amid increasing assertiveness of China in the region.
The development comes as Suga made his 3-day maiden visit to Vietnam, after becoming the PM of Japan in September 2020. As per their latest in principle agreement, Tokyo will export defence equipment and technology to Hanoi. Suga assured Vietnam of Japan’s continued contribution to peace and prosperity in the region.
On his arrival, Suga received a grand welcome at the welcome ceremony in Vietnam during his visit.
菅総理は、最初の訪問先としてベトナムのハノイに到着し、空港で歓迎の出迎えを受けました。 pic.twitter.com/glYghvsJg0
— 首相官邸 (@kantei) October 18, 2020
The official twitter account of Vietnam Government tweeted, “PM #NguyenXuanPhuc hosts welcome ceremony for 🇯🇵counterpart Suga Yoshihide at the Presidential Palace in Ha Noi this morning.”
PM #NguyenXuanPhuc hosts welcome ceremony for 🇯🇵counterpart Suga Yoshihide at the Presidential Palace in Ha Noi this morninghttps://t.co/CEw2Ljf14r pic.twitter.com/BHeSFyX04r
— Viet Nam Government Portal (@VNGovtPortal) October 19, 2020
Welcoming Suga, the PM of Vietnam said, “Vietnam welcomes Japan, a global power, to continue to actively contribute to regional and global peace, stability and prosperity.”
Addressing the media, the two leaders also agreed on the importance of maintaining peace, security and freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, and the peaceful settlement of disputes. The Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan – Vu Hong Ham said the Vietnam-Japan relationship has become a model of friendship and win-win partnership, creating a foundation for cooperation in ensuring stability and peace in Southeast Asia and beyond.
Japan, which ended a decades-old ban on overseas arms sales in 2014 has been in talks with Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand on deals to allow such exports.
Suggesting a peaceful resolution to South China Sea dispute, Suga said, “Regarding the South China Sea issue, it is important for all countries concerned not to rely on force or threat but to work toward peaceful resolution based on international law.”
The 2 nations also signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Japan’s Marubeni Corp to invest U.S. $ 1.3 billion in a power plant in Vietnam’s Can Tho Province and another agreement where Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. and PetroVietnam Power Corp will jointly develop a U.S. $ 1.9 billion gas-fired plant in Vietnam. Suga also announced cooperation to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and resumption of air travel between the two nations.
According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Trade and Industry, the bilateral trade between them stood at U.S. $ 28.6 billion in the 9 months of 2020, a year-on-year decrease of 1.8%. This was majorly due to the pandemic and the travel restrictions.
As of September 2020, Vietnam housed 4,595 Japan-funded projects with total registered capital of U.S. $ 59.87 billion, making Japan the second biggest investor in the Southeast Asian country. As per the data by Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the total investment inflows from Japan this year has been U.S. $ 1.73 billion. As of December 2019, Japan provided around U.S. $ 23.76 billion in official development assistance, accounting for 26.3% of the Government’s foreign loans. On labour cooperation, Vietnam has sent more than 230,000 interns to Japan since 1992 and both countries have signed various documents to institutionalize cooperation in this area. In tourism, the number of Japanese tourists rose by 15.2% to nearly 952,000 in 2019.
