On August 20, in Hanoi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ngo Le Van received Mr. Watanabe Tetsuya, Chairman of the ASEAN - East Asia Economic Research Institute (ERIA), on the occasion of Mr. Watanabe's visit to Vietnam from August 19 - 21, 2026.
At the meeting, Deputy Minister Ngo Le Van assessed that the Vietnam - Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is developing more and more substantively and effectively with high political trust.
Japan is one of Vietnam's top important economic partners. Besides traditional cooperation fields, the two countries are expanding cooperation in new fields such as science and technology, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductor, digital transformation, green transformation, energy security and economic security.
Highly appreciating ERIA's contributions to the ASEAN and East Asian economic integration process, Deputy Minister Ngo Le Van affirmed that ERIA's research and policy recommendations on growth model, industrial policy, innovation, digital transformation, green transformation and sustainable development are valuable references for Vietnam as well as countries in the region.
Sharing about the goal of becoming a developed country with high income by 2045, Deputy Minister Ngo Le Van said that prioritizing the development of science and technology, innovation, digital transformation and green transformation is the main driving force to realize the new growth model, the goal of industrialization, modernization and double-digit growth of Vietnam.
Deputy Minister Ngo Le Van expressed his wish that ERIA will continue to accompany, share experiences and policy advice, help identify challenges to have appropriate response measures to Vietnam's circumstances and reality; ERIA's research will become action plans implemented in practice, contributing to the economic development of ASEAN countries, including Vietnam.
President Watanabe expressed his pleasure to meet Deputy Minister Ngo Le Van during this visit to Vietnam, thanked the support and assistance of the Vietnamese Government for ERIA since its establishment in 2008. President Watanabe thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vietnam Diplomatic Academy for creating opportunities for ERIA to participate and be a partner in organizing the 3rd Future Forum - ASEAN in June 2026.
ERIA Chairman affirmed that ERIA highly values cooperation with Vietnam and is ready to continue to promote its strengths in research and policy advice to make practical contributions to the implementation of Vietnam's development goals, through regional cooperation of ASEAN as well as the Mekong region in the fields of energy, infrastructure, digital connectivity, green transformation, and high-quality human resource training.
In addition, Chairman Watanabe expressed his willingness to contribute ideas and recommendations on content to be exchanged at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum hosted by Vietnam in 2027.
