General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee and State President Tô Lâm. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) Central Committee and State President Tô Lâm, his spouse Ngô Phương Ly and a high-level Vietnamese delegation will pay an official visit to Japan from November 8 to 11, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Thursday.

The visit will be made at the invitation of Japan, foreign ministry spokesperson Phạm Thu Hằng said at the ministry's regular press briefing in Hà Nội.

This will be Tô Lâm's first visit to Japan in his capacity as both CPV leader and State President and the first visit to Japan by a CPV General Secretary in 11 years, she said.

In Japan, General Secretary and President Tô Lâm and his spouse will attend a welcome ceremony in Tokyo and make a state call on the Emperor and Empress of Japan, and the imperial couple will host a court luncheon in honour of the top Vietnamese leader and his spouse. The top leader will also hold high-level talks with the Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

He is also expected to meet the Speakers of both houses of Japan's National Diet, deliver a policy speech at the National Diet, visit Kanagawa Prefecture and attend other important diplomatic engagements.

The visit aims to further strengthen the Việt Nam–Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which has continued to develop substantively and effectively across political, diplomatic, economic and people-to-people cooperation, the spokesperson underscored.

The two sides are expected to discuss ways to deepen traditional areas of cooperation, including political trust, trade, investment and economic ties, while expanding collaboration into emerging fields such as innovation, digital transformation, green transition, renewable energy, skilled labour, and education and training.

Japan remains Việt Nam's leading partner in official development assistance (ODA) and labour cooperation, its third-largest investor, and its fourth-largest partner in tourism and trade, according to the spokesperson.

Cooperation in digital transformation, green transition, and renewable energy has also recorded positive progress, while labour, human resources development and exchanges between localities and people have become increasingly close and effective.

The Vietnamese community in Japan now numbers around 700,000, with a growing proportion of intellectuals and highly skilled workers. Japan is also home to approximately 7,000 Vietnamese IT engineers, Hằng said.

She highlighted the strength of local-level and people-to-people ties, noting that around 100 pairs of localities in the two countries have established sister-city or similar cooperative relationships. In 2026 alone, the two countries have hosted 10 major expos and festivals promoting bilateral exchanges.

Hằng expressed her expectation that the visit would provide fresh momentum for bilateral relations, particularly in translating agreements reached at the highest levels and across various cooperation channels into concrete, large-scale and effective implementation.

These efforts would contribute to achieving the development goals of both countries while promoting peace, cooperation, stability and prosperity in the region and the world, she said. — VNS