(VOVworld)- National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung and a delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly began a 3-day official visit to Japan today. Vietnam and Japan established diplomatic ties in September 1973 and after 1975 the two countries established embassies. Since 1992, after a period of interruption, the bilateral friendship and cooperation between the two countries have strongly developed. Every year, they exchange official visits and meetings between senior leaders. Japan is Vietnam’s leading economic partner and became the first G7 country to recognize Vietnam’s market economy status in October, 2011. Japan is now Vietnam’s largest ODA donor, leading investor, and 3^rd - largest trading partner. NA Chairman Hung’s visit to Japan will boost cooperation between the two countries and their legislative bodies.