TOKYO Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc held talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday as part of his attendance at the G20 Summit and visit to Japan.
PM Phúc congratulated the Japanese people on the great event of Emperor Naruhito’s ascension to the throne and the successful organisation of the 14th G20 Summit in Osaka.
He affirmed that Việt Nam always considers Japan an important, long-term and reliable partner. 
PM Abe highly valued Việt Nam’s position, role and external achievements, as well as its initiatives and active contributions to the G20 Summit.
They agreed to reinforce political ties by maintaining high-level visits.
PM Phúc invited his Japanese counterpart to visit Việt Nam and attend the ASEAN Summit in 2020 when Việt Nam will play the role of ASEAN Chair and PM Abe accepted the invitation.
The two leaders also agreed to strengthen cooperation in defence, security and coordination within the ASEAN Defence Minister’s Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus).
Regarding trade, investment and economic cooperation, the PMs welcomed the two sides to agree on procedures allowing the imports of Vietnamese lychees and Japanese apples.
Việt Nam proposed Japan consider the early imports of Vietnamese longans, star apples, and passion fruit while supporting Việt Nam to improve the quality of farm produce and develop high-tech agriculture. The Japanese side asked Việt Nam to allow the imports of Japanese oranges.
The two nations agreed to continue working together to implement effectively Japan’s official development assistance (ODA)-funded projects in Việt Nam and promote bilateral cooperation under the public-private-partnership (PPP) form.
PM Phúc affirmed that Việt Nam will double its efforts to create a more transparent, open and favourable investment environment.
The two PMs also welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in building a basic legal framework to implement the specific labour skills training programme.
They advocated the signing of an agreement on extradition, and agreed to push ahead with negotiations for the agreement on mutual legal assistance on criminal matters and strengthen health cooperation through the Asian Health Initiative.
PM Abe affirmed that Japan will actively support Việt Nam in training officials and improving vocational training as well as increasing competitiveness and labour productivity, reforming administrative procedures, building e-government to look towards digital government, economy and society, and coping with climate change.
The two sides agreed to enhance coordination at regional and international forums and promote relations between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Mekong River region.
They agreed to jointly implement effectively the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and boost the conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Cooperation agreements
Before the talks, PM Phúc and PM Abe witnessed the signing of six documents, including the agreement on extradition; and the diplomatic note between the two governments on providing non-refundable aid packages for the Japanese Grant Aid for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS).
Việt Nam’s Ministry of Health and Japan’s Office of Healthcare Policy under the Cabinet Secretariat, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry also signed an MoU on cooperation.
Việt Nam’s Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and Japan’s Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and National Police Agency signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on the “specific skilled workers” programme.
The MoLISA and the National Institute of Technology KOSEN inked an MoU to continue with cooperation activities to implement the KOSEN training models in Việt Nam.
The two government leaders also witnessed the exchange of a contract for renewable energy projects between the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

PM Phúc had a round-table talk with Japan’s leading corporations in the fields of finance, energy, construction, manufacturing, logistics and high technology in Tokyo yesterday.

He also met leaders of some localities of Japan, including Chiba Prefecture, Nasushiobara City and Tochigi Prefecture.

He attended a ceremony in Tokyo yesterday to launch budget carrier Vietjet’s new routes connecting HCM City with Tokyo (Narita), and central Đà Nẵng City with Tokyo (Haneda).

Leading Japanese corporations yesterday signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with Hà Nội to invest a total of close to US$4 billion in projects in the capital city.

An investment promotion conference was held in Tokyo the same day with the participation of representatives from about 1,200 businesses from both countries. VNS