At a press conference on April 23, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Ito Naoki emphasized that Japan attaches importance to three main pillars of cooperation with Vietnam: economy - trade and investment; security; human resource development, including human resources in the semiconductor industry.
In economic and trade cooperation, Japan pays special attention to areas that are suitable for the development needs of Vietnam and Vietnam, such as semiconductors, digital transformation, green transformation, innovation and science and technology. Japan is developing a training program for human resources in the semiconductor industry at Vietnam - Japan University since this fall.
In terms of investment, up to now, Japan has had a total accumulated investment capital in Vietnam of nearly 78 billion USD. Bilateral trade turnover is approaching the 50 billion USD mark, up 1.8 times over the past 10 years.
The Ambassador hopes that Vietnam's reform efforts will create a more favorable environment, especially in shortening licensing time and simplifying administrative procedures for Japanese enterprises.
Regarding areas of mutual concern, such as the US's response to tariffs, Ambassador Ito Naoki said that the two governments have established separate negotiation delegations with the US for private negotiations, but the two sides can share information for reference, helping to provide the most appropriate negotiation direction.
The Ambassador said that on April 21, Japanese Finance Minister Kato Katsunobu had a phone call with Finance Minister Nguyen Van Thang to discuss recent developments in tariff policies between major economies. The two ministers confirmed that they will share information in the coming time to help both sides propose the best solution to deal with this problem.
In the field of security, bilateral cooperation is increasingly expanded. From the visit of the Japanese Minister of National Defense last year, to the visit to Da Nang by the Japanese Coast Guard ship in April this year, as well as technical cooperation on defense equipment... These are important steps in realizing the Vietnam - Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership upgraded by the two countries in November 2023.
People-to-people exchanges are also considered by Japan to be a sustainable foundation for bilateral relations. There are currently about 630,000 Vietnamese people living, studying and working in Japan.
The Ambassador affirmed that Japan will continue to make efforts to improve the learning and working environment so that Vietnamese youth can consider this a top destination, thereby creating a quality human resource flow, returning to contribute to Vietnam or working for Japanese enterprises.
In addition, Japan also demonstrated a strong commitment to responding to climate change and supporting the recovery of natural disaster consequences in Vietnam through projects of the Japan International Cooperation Organization (JICA) and multilateral cooperation.
Ambassador Ito Naoki commented that the Vietnam - Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is not only bilateral in nature, but also contributes to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world.
