PM"s trip to Japan a success: Deputy FM

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (left) and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe

Following the leader’s attendance at the 10th Mekong-Japan Summit and overall visit to Japan, Trung told the press that the two sides have agreed to cooperate closely with each other in order to deepen their extensive strategic partnership across many fields.

They will also join hands at international forums, for the sake of each country, and for peace, stability, and cooperation in the region and the world alike.

PM Phuc and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe committed to promoting ASEAN-Japan relations, especially as Vietnam is working as a coordinator of the ASEAN-Japan Dialogue.

PM Abe applauded Vietnam’s role, position, and contributions to regional and international issues, wishing to work closely with the country to reach a result-orientated agreement on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in 2018, and push ahead with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Regarding the East Sea issue, participating countries stressed the significance of maintaining peace, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and aviation; ensuring legal order in the East Sea; and settling disputes by peaceful measures.

They took note of concerns over complex developments in the East Sea and the need to implement the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), as well as to soon finalise an effective and practical Code of Conduct in the East Sea.

The Japanese side said it attaches great importance to Vietnam in its regional policy, and stands ready to cooperate with Vietnam for the country’s sustainable development.

Trung said the lift of Mekong-Vietnam cooperation to a strategic partnership is expected to help foster multilateral collaboration between Vietnam and Japan, and to contribute to wider regional connectivity.

Within the Mekong-Japan cooperation framework, there have been hundreds of projects worth tens of billions of US dollars. Over the past three years, Japan has allocated around US$7 billion to the mechanism, contributing to the development of the Mekong countries, including Vietnam.

Trung said he believes that Vietnam will have more opportunities to mobilise resources for the development of transport infrastructure, energy, digital economy, personnel training, Mekong River water resource use and management, and climate change response.

The partnership will also help build a region of peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the Mekong, he said.