National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ (right) had talks with Special Advisor to the Cabinet of Japan and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Maeda Tadashi on Thursday. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

HÀ NỘI — National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vương Đình Huệ hosted a reception for Special Advisor to the Cabinet of Japan and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Maeda Tadashi in Hà Nội on Thursday.

Welcoming Tadashi in his return to Việt Nam after his latest visit in July 2022, NA Chairman Huệ said that this is a chance for the two sides to further promote the Việt Nam-Japan extensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia, as well as cooperation between ASEAN and Japan.

He thanked the Japanese official for sharing his ideas on current important issues, especially regarding energy transition. The Vietnamese top legislator underlined that it is an inevitable and objective process, contributing to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals with no country standing outside. He noted that at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), Việt Nam made a strong commitment to the international community to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

NA Chairman Huệ highlighted the significance of ensuring energy security, stressing that energy transition should be made to suit the reality in each country.

Holding that energy transition is a global issue, he said that countries with slower development like Việt Nam need support from the international community in three aspects – building institutions, legal and policy systems; enhancing technologies and techniques; and finance.

He said that Việt Nam highly values the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) initiative by Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, adding that the country is working hard to implement specific cooperation activities with Japan in the field.

Agreeing with the Japanese official on the need to set up a joint working group for AZEC implementation, Huệ affirmed that the Vietnamese NA is willing to send officials from its committees to join the group.

He suggested that Việt Nam and Japan make substantial cooperation to build and maintain strategic supply chains, including those related to energy.

Underlining that the two countries have great potential in biomass power development, Huệ said that they should cooperate more closely in converting energy production plants from coal to biomass fuel according to a certain roadmap while working together in the supply chain of projects related to gas energy and coordinating closely in developing wind power and solar power suitable to climate change situation in Việt Nam and Asia.

For his part, Tadashi said that after his Việt Nam visit in 2022, he has become a Special Advisor to the Cabinet of Japan in promoting carbon neutralisation.

He said that at G20’s meetings in 2022, Japan mentioned the AZEC. Meanwhile, the G7 has also focused on implementing the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). In order to realise the JETP, the JBIC has committed to supporting US$300 million through Vietcombank to implement projects in the field of renewable energy. In the JETP, Japan has also offered soft loans, he added.

He underlined that Japan is drastically implementing the AZEC, while making a large investment in a fund for new energy resource research. Vietnamese firms can join their Japanese peers to conduct research on new energy resource development using this fund, he stated.

The JBIC Chairman said that Japan, the US and Australia will work together to support Việt Nam in mitigating climate change impacts, adding Japan has set up a framework to assist Việt Nam in this field. — VNS