PM expects breakthroughs in Vietnam – Japan economic cooperation

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made the proposal at a reception in Hanoi on July 9 for Japanese Minister Yoshitaka Shindo in charge of economy and the CPTPP.

Chinh said both countries still have a lot of room to exploit the advantages and incentives from the cooperation frameworks of which they are members, such as the CPTPP, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP), the Vietnam – Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (VJEPA) and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).

These cooperation frameworks play an important role in promoting trade, investment and business relations between the two countries to new heights, noted the PM.

At the meeting, the PM also proposed that Japan continue to open the market for Vietnamese fresh fruit products, including pomelo and passion fruit, while creating conditions for Vietnamese businesses to engage in Japanese production, supply, and import-export chains. He also vowed to facilitate Vietnamese market access for Japanese products like grapefruit and peach.

The two sides should exchange experiences and enhance cooperation in innovation, science and technology, and emerging fields such as green development, digital economy, circular economy, sharing economy, knowledge economy, as well as in labour, education, human resource training, climate change response, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges, he proposed.

The PM also proposed that the two sides maintain high-level visit exchanges and strongly promote bilateral cooperation in all fields in line with the new partnership framework established late last year.

Shindo for his part briefed his host on Japan’s socio-economic development policies at present and affirmed that he personally would continue to contribute to fostering Japan-Vietnam relations.

He highly appreciated Vietnam’s quality human resources and said Japan would renew reception policies and promote training cooperation to make it an even more attractive destination for Vietnamese interns and workers in the country.

Earlier the same day, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien met with Japanese Minister Yoshitaka Shindo in Hanoi. The two sides pledged to work closely together to improve the effectiveness of the CPTPP implementation, aiming to bring greater benefits to businesses and citizens while also elevating the deal’s role in global and regional trade.

They agreed to continue close collaboration to ensure that any new member meets the high standards of the deal and the expectations of all CPTPP members.

Japan is Vietnam’s fourth largest trade partner, with two-way trade reaching US$18.3 billion in the first five months of the year, marking a 4.4% increase year on year.