President Truong Tan Sang wraps up Japan visit

Wednesday, March 19, 2014 | 18:17:30

(VOVworld) – President Truong Tan Sang left Tokyo for Osaka on Wednesday as part of his ongoing state visit to Japan. He held separate talks with leaders of the city and Japan-Vietnam Friendship Associations of Kansai region, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Sakai, and Hiroshima. President Sang’s talks with economic leaders from the Kansai region and both countries’ businesses opened new opportunities for cooperation in many areas. President Sang said Japan is Vietnam’s top investor, ODA provider, and import-export market. Japan is also one of the leading markets for Vietnamese tourism, science and technology. Vietnam has been active in ASEAN-Japan economic cooperation, ASEAN+3, the Regional Comprehensive Partnership Agreement, and the Free Trade Agreement with the EU. In particular, negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement are creating favorable conditions for the Vietnam-Japan partnership. President Sang said he hoped that Japanese businesses will increase cooperation in the areas prioritized in Vietnam’s industrialization strategy, which include electronics, shipbuilding, the environment, energy conservation, and the manufacturing of automobiles and spare parts. President Sang said cooperation in support industries should be prioritized: “Developing support industries is an urgent and long-term strategic task for Vietnam to become an industrial nation. There should be a clear roadmap which focuses on resources, technology, finance, cooperation between domestic businesses and foreign partners as well as global corporations. We hope that, Japan, as a strategic partner and reliable friend of Vietnam, will support Vietnam in this field.”

Earlier President Sang visited and talked with the Vietnamese embassy staff and representatives of the Vietnamese community in Japan. He asked them to exert greater efforts to contribute to realizing the signed agreements between the two countries: “Each individual and sector should think of a way to help implement these agreements. This will benefit both countries and will be in the interests of the region and the world, particularly the Asia-Pacific region.”