Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính (left) and Chairman of the Japan - Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance Nikai Toshihiro in Tokyo on December 16. VNA/VNS Photo

TOKYO Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính received Chairman of the Japan - Việt Nam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance Nikai Toshihiro, Governor of Tokyo Koike Yuriko, and leaders of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) in Tokyo on December 16.

PM Chính, who has been in Japan to attend the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation and have bilateral activities, suggested Nikai and the alliance's members work to enhance cooperation between the two parliaments and leverage the connecting role of friendship parliamentarians' organisations.

He urged them to promote cooperation between the two countries in labour, human resource training, and such new areas as digital transformation, green transition, high-tech agriculture, and education. Specifically, PM Chính emphasised the need to effectively implement the Việt Nam-Japan University project and support localities’ extensive cooperation aligning with the two countries’ freshly-upgraded comprehensive strategic partnership.

The government leader also called for simplifying procedures towards visa exemptions for Vietnamese citizens entering Japan, thereby strengthening the two sides’ tourism cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

Nikai said he appreciated the elevation of the Việt Nam-Japan relations to the comprehensive strategic partnership and affirmed the alliance’s continued support for promoting cooperation with Việt Nam, especially in areas with great potential like labour, agriculture, science-technology, energy, and locality-to-locality and people-to-people exchanges. He also promised to report the PM’s visa exemption suggestion to the Japanese Government.

Japanese Minister of Justice Koizumi Ryuji pledged to make greater efforts in his capacity as the Chief of Office of the Japan - Việt Nam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance to improve policies for Vietnamese guest workers and apprentices in Japan.

Special Advisor of the Japan - Việt Nam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance Takebe Tsutomu highlighted his commitment to promoting the Việt Nam-Japan University project, contributing to the enhancement of Vietnam’s capacity in human resources training.

Governor of Tokyo Koike Yuriko expressed her delight at the increasing exchange of delegations at all levels between Việt Nam and Japan this year to mark the 50th founding anniversary of their diplomatic relations.

The Governor said she wants to enhance cooperation between Tokyo and Việt Nam in the fields of delegation exchanges and labour cooperation.

Keidanren President Kubota Masakazu affirmed that Japanese businesses are willing to make contributions to the development of economic ties between the two countries. VNA/VNS