(VOVWORLD) - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his entourage has just concluded a trip to attend the G20 Summit and pay an official visit to Japan at the invitation of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The visit boosted Vietnam-Japan relations and resulted in many new commitments. At the G20 summit, Vietnam participated in discussions of regional and global issues in a responsible manner.
 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phua hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (Photo: VGP/Quang Hieu) |
During 4-day visit, which wrapped up on Monday, Prime Minister Phuc attended some 50 events. As a guest of the G20 Summit, he participated in all discussions and added opinions to the Summit’s draft joint statement.
New momentum for Vietnam-Japan relations
Prime Minister Phuc held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, delivered a speech at the Investment Promotion Conference of about 1,200 businesspeople from Vietnam and Japan, chaired a meeting with leaders of 40 big Japanese businesses, met with leaders of some economic groups invested in Vietnam, and attended a lotus festival in Wakayama prefecture. Vietnam and Japan consider each other an important partner in regional policy and have pledged to organize more high-level exchanges.
The two Prime Ministers witnessed the signing of 6 cooperative agreements and an MoU on sending specific skilled Vietnamese workers to work in Japan. They agreed on procedures for importing Vietnamese litchi to Japan; enhancing cooperation in energy, high-tech agriculture, and CPTPP implementation; and completing RCEP negotiations.
At the Vietnam Investment Promotion Conference, ministries and businesses of both countries exchanged 32 cooperative documents on energy, finance, hotels, and building trade and industrial zones and smart cities, with a total value of over 8 billion USD. Prime Minister Phuc said Vietnam will continue to improve its business environment in line with international norms, and push for the formation of economic cooperation frameworks, to open new opportunities for direct investment and export.
Mr. Phuc said: “We see the Japanese business community as our top strategic partner in national development. We’ll continue to resolve problems in the investment environment to attract more investors from Japan. We expect many good things from future bilateral cooperation.”
 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, and delegates of both sides at the G20 Summit (photo: VGP) |
Contributions for common interests
As a special national guest, Vietnam represented other emerging economies in making proposals to the G20 Summit. Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said: “At this summit Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc supported Japan’s initiative to promote the digital economy and made recommendations on building global database centers to share information in a safe and effective manner. At a session on sustainable development in response to climate change, the Prime Minister pledged to implement COP21 commitments with other countries and build a maritime and ocean database to help combat plastic waste. Vietnam’s initiatives show its responsible participation in global efforts solve pressing problems.”
Prime Minister Phuc had bilateral meetings with the leaders of numerous countries and organizations to enhance trust, deepen relations, and mobilize support for Vietnam.