Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính (centre) attends a Việt Nam-Japan economic forum in Tokyo on December 16. VNA/VNS Photo

 TOKYO Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính on December 16 attended a Việt Nam-Japan economic forum in Tokyo as part of his ongoing trip to the East Asian country for attendance at the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation and bilateral activities.

At the event, whose theme highlighted the two countries’ economic relations in the new era and comprehensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia and the world, leaders of Japanese ministries, organisations, and businesses praised Việt Nam's high growth rate, appropriate policies, large market, and excellent human resources.

They said that, with the perspective of being creative economic and social partners in the future, Japan will focus on collaboration and investment in Việt Nam, particularly in future industries, and the reduction of carbon emissions.

The forum also heard presentations by representatives of Japanese businesses outlining their orientations as well as cooperation and investment proposals in green development and digital transformation in Việt Nam.

Addressing the forum, PM Chính held that the two countries’ political trust is now at a very high level. Japan is currently Việt Nam's leading economic partner, ranking second in labour cooperation, third in investment and tourism cooperation, and fourth in trade cooperation. The two economies have complemented each other, contributing to mutual development.

He noted that with over 5,200 projects and more than 71.5 billion USD in registered capital, Japanese investors are present in almost all regions of Việt Nam. They are participating in many strategic projects in such key areas as manufacturing, processing industries, electronics components, research and development, finance, biotechnology, quantum technology, AI, and modern healthcare.

Bilateral trade exceeded 40 billion USD in the first 11 months of 2023, with Việt Nam importing nearly 20 billion USD worth of goods from Japan. Among its foreign partners, Japan has signed the largest number of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with Việt Nam. Meanwhile, there are over 500,000 Vietnamese living, studying, and working in Japan, and vice versa more than 22,000 Japanese citizens are  living, studying, and working in Việt Nam.

The Government leader stressed that the upgrade of the Việt Nam-Japan relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World has laid an important political foundation to continue expanding cooperation in new areas where both sides have strengths.

He told the forum that Việt Nam needs Japan’s further collaboration and support in the industrialisation and modernisation process, financial assistance with preferential interest rates, transfer of advanced technologies, and suggestions for building and improving its institutions, mechanisms, and policies.

PM Chính proposed Japan assist Việt Nam in training high-quality human resources and emphasised the necessity to step up the two sides’ locality-to-locality cooperation, people-to-people exchanges, and cultural collaboration.

He called on Japanese enterprises to continue investing in Vietnam to achieve increasingly better results, as the successes of the investors are also the successes of Việt Nam.

As part of the forum, PM Chính and leaders of Vietnamese and Japanese ministries, sectors, and localities witnessed the exchange of 30 cooperation agreements in various fields, including the development of industrial infrastructure, urban areas, trade centres, green hydrogen production, battery production, energy, finance, digital transformation, and human resources training. VNA/VNS