NA Vice Chairman Trần Quang Phương (left) and Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan Nukaga Fukushiro. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI – National Assembly (NA) Vice Chairman Sen. Lieut. Gen. Trần Quang Phương met with Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan Nukaga Fukushiro and held talks with Vice President of the House of Councillors Fukuyama Tetsuro on Monday, part of his ongoing working trip to Japan.

Phương expressed delight at visiting Japan during the month celebrating the 52nd anniversary of diplomatic ties and nearly two years since the two countries upgraded ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. He conveyed NA Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn’s greetings and letter thanking Speaker Nukaga for his congratulatory message on the 80th anniversary of Việt Nam’s National Day.

Congratulating Japan on successfully hosting Expo 2025 in Osaka, he thanked the Japanese Government for facilitating Việt Nam’s presence at the event.

In discussions, Phương praised the strong and substantive growth of Việt Nam – Japan relations since the partnership upgrade, driven by high political trust and evidenced by spotlights in six cooperation areas, namely economy, national defence – security, science – technology, locality-to-locality partnerships, people-to-people exchanges, and parliamentary cooperation.

Việt Nam always considers Japan a top priority partner and a sincere and trusted friend on the path towards its development goals, with inter-parliamentary cooperation serving as an important channel to deepen substantive, comprehensive, and effective ties, he said.

Sharing the NA’s determination to refine the institutional framework to meet development targets, he proposed stepping up exchanges between the two legislatures, especially through regular interactions between parliamentary friendship groups and specialised committees, and sharing of experiences in legislation and supervision in non-traditional security areas like cybersecurity, digital transformation, and disaster response.

The official also sought the Japanese parliament’s support for stronger linkages in quality workforce training and creation of an environment conducive for Vietnamese workers in Japan.

Speaker Nukaga praised Vietnam’s successful National Day showcase at Expo 2025 and thanked Phương for visiting Japanese localities, including his wreath-laying at the Hiroshima atomic bombing memorial.

Citing the solid relationship and shared values, Nukaga said Japan and Việt Nam hold ample potential for further collaboration. He lauded Việt Nam’s role as a key partner in Japan’s Indo-Pacific strategy, and expressed confidence that the vigorous development of Việt Nam as well as bilateral ties will help with regional stability and development.

He pledged to strengthen cooperation between the two legislatures and affirmed Japan’s readiness to support Việt Nam’s continued development.

On the occasion, Phương conveyed NA Chairman Mẫn’s invitation for the host to visit Việt Nam soon.

In separate talks the same day, Phương and Fukuyama vowed to continue coordinating in the effective implementation of high-level agreements and commitments, including the cooperation agreement signed between the Vietnamese NA and Japanese House of Councillors during NA Chairman Mẫn’s official visit to Japan in December 2024.

They also promised to step up cooperation across economy, national defence – security, investment, tourism, trade, science, technology, digital transformation, green transition, artificial intelligence, and semiconductors.

Fukuyama underscored the importance of promoting high-level and parliamentary exchanges, saying that Phương’s visit holds significance for Japan – Việt Nam friendship and cooperation.

During the meetings, Vice Chairman of the Japan – Việt Nam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance and a member of the House of Representatives Aoyagi Yoichiro reaffirmed his 18-year efforts in advancing bilateral ties and expressed the wish to deepen collaboration in culture, people-to-people exchanges, and quality workforce training. — VNA/VNS