Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended a Vietnam-Japan economic forum in Tokyo on December 16  as part of his ongoing trip to Japan for attendance at the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation and bilateral activities, according to a report from the Vietnam News Agency.

At the event, whose theme highlighted the two countries’ economic relations in the new era and comprehensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia and the world, leaders of Japanese ministries, organizations, and businesses praised Vietnam's high growth rate, appropriate policies, large market, and excellent human resources.

They said that, with the perspective of being creative economic and social partners in the future, Japan will focus on collaboration and investment in Vietnam, particularly in future industries, and the reduction of carbon emissions.

The forum also heard presentations by representatives of Japanese businesses outlining their orientations as well as cooperation and investment proposals in green development and digital transformation in Vietnam.

Addressing the forum, PM Chinh held that the two countries’ political trust is now at a very high level. Japan is currently Vietnam's leading economic partner, ranking second in labor cooperation, third in investment and tourism cooperation, and fourth in trade cooperation. The two economies have complemented each other, contributing to mutual development.

The Prime Minister noted that with over 5,200 projects and more than $71.5 billion  in registered capital, Japanese investors are present in almost all regions of Vietnam. They are participating in many strategic projects in such key areas as manufacturing, processing industries, electronics components, research and development, finance, biotechnology, quantum technology, AI, and modern healthcare.

Bilateral trade exceeded $40 billion in the first 11 months of 2023, with Vietnam importing nearly $20 billion worth of goods from Japan. Among its foreign partners, Japan has signed the largest number of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with Vietnam. Meanwhile, there are over 500,000 Vietnamese living, studying, and working in Japan, and vice versa more than 22,000 Japanese citizens are  living, studying, and working in Vietnam.

The Government leader stressed that the upgrade of the Vietnam-Japan relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World has laid an important political foundation to continue expanding cooperation in new areas where both sides have strengths.

He told the forum that Vietnam needs Japan’s further collaboration and support in the industrialization and modernization process, financial assistance with preferential interest rates, transfer of advanced technologies, and suggestions for building and improving its institutions, mechanisms, and policies.

The Prime Minister proposed Japan assist Vietnam in training high-quality human resources and emphasized the necessity to step up the two sides’ locality-to-locality cooperation, people-to-people exchanges, and cultural collaboration.

He called on Japanese enterprises to continue investing in Vietnam to achieve increasingly better results, as the successes of the investors are also the successes of Vietnam.

As part of the forum, PM Chinh and leaders of Vietnamese and Japanese ministries, sectors, and localities witnessed the exchange of 30 cooperation agreements in various fields, including the development of industrial infrastructure, urban areas, trade centers, green hydrogen production, battery production, energy, finance, digital transformation, and human resources training.