Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn (right) held talks with Japanese Ambassador to Việt Nam Yamada Takio in Hà Nội on Thursday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn on Thursday met with Japanese Ambassador to Việt Nam Yamada Takio in Hà Nội to explore how to beef up ties between the two countries and co-operation at multilateral forums.

Ambassador Yamada said the government of Japan and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga held in high regard the outcomes of the PM’s official visit to Việt Nam last week. Noting that Việt Nam was selected as the Japanese PM’s destination for his first overseas trip, the ambassador said he hoped the two sides would continue closely co-ordinating to implement the results of the visit.

Deputy FM Sơn highly spoke of the growth of the Việt Nam-Japan strategic partnership, particularly the success of PM Suga’s visit.

Việt Nam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other ministries and agencies would work alongside the Embassy of Japan and Japanese partners to translate agreements reached during the visit into reality, he said.

He went on to suggest the two sides take measures to boost co-operation and step up bilateral and multilateral efforts to respond to the impacts of COVID-19.

The two sides agreed to strengthen co-operation at regional and global forums, such as the UN, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

The Japanese diplomat appreciated Việt Nam’s role as Chair of ASEAN this year and co-ordinator of the ASEAN-Japan relations, saying he would continue partnering with Việt Nam and other countries to ensure the success of the 37th ASEAN Summit and related meetings, including the 23rd ASEAN-Japan Summit, which Việt Nam is hosting in November.

Both sides also highlighted the results of the implementation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) after the trade deal took effect a year ago and agreed to make the most of the deal to recover the economy amid COVID-19. — VNS