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PM Suga made the above statement at a joint press briefing with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyễn Xuân Phúc following the pair’s summit meeting on Monday morning.

As an Indo-Pacific country, Japan will continue contributions to peace and prosperity in the region, affirmed Suga, adding that he chose Việt Nam for the first foreign trip as Việt Nam is the best destination for him to send out this message.

He said he had a productive meeting with PM Phúc, during which both sides compared notes on a wide range of issues in order to promote the trusted ties between the two countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Japan has decided to provide emergency relief for Việt Nam to help the Southeast Asia country overcome consequences caused by heavy rain in the central region, pledging to continue sharing national disaster prevention experience with Việt Nam, according to Suga.

Both sides agreed to tighten cooperation over regional matters, including the East Sea issue, and basically reached consensus on an agreement on transfer of defence equipment and technology, which is a big leap forward in bilateral defence cooperation, the Japanese leader said.

The two sides have signed a dozen documents on environment, energy and development cooperation.

Meanwhile, PM Phúc once again congratulated Suga on his election as new Japanese PM, welcoming his first foreign visit to Việt Nam.

Phúc said he had a successful meeting with Suga as both sides agreed to strengthen political trust through the regular exchange of visits and contacts as well as dialogues at all levels to promote cooperation across fields, including defence, security, COVID-19 containment, and especially the economy.

The two countries also agreed to foster coordination at multilateral fora. As the current ASEAN Chair and non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, Việt Nam welcomes Japan, a global power, to continue its active role and positive contributions to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world.

Both sides reaffirmed the importance of ensuring peace, security, safety and freedom of aviation and navigation in the East Sea, beefing up settlement of disputes via peaceful measures, avoiding the use or threat of force, seriously abiding by international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), respecting diplomatic and legal processes, fully implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, and concluding a practical and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea that is in line with the UNCLOS. — VGP/VNS