Party General Secretary Tô Lâm (right) and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Maeda Tadashi. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Party General Secretary Tô Lâm hosted a reception in Hà Nội on Wednesday for Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Maeda Tadashi.

The Party chief commended the significant contributions of the Japanese bank and Maeda to Việt Nam's socio-economic development, particularly through key projects in infrastructure and climate change response.

Lâm affirmed that Việt Nam places great importance on its relationship with Japan, saying the issues of interests of the Japanese Government and the JBIC are also Việt Nam's breakthrough priorities in the time ahead, including transport infrastructure, energy, and digital technology.

He welcomed the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) initiated by former Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and noted Việt Nam's readiness to collaborate with Japan and other countries in this field.

The Party leader called on Japan and the bank to continue supporting Việt Nam's development, while paying heed to promoting infrastructure connectivity in Southeast Asia and the Mekong subregion, especially transport, energy, and big data infrastructure.

For his part, Maeda stressed that the Japanese Government, including the JBIC, considers Vietnam an important partner in the region and is willing to cooperate with the Southeast Asian nation in traditional areas, such as transport infrastructure and climate change response, and expand cooperation to new fields, including energy transition, artificial intelligence, big data, and support for startups, contributing to Vietnam's development as well as the relationship between the two countries. — VNS