National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man held talks with Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan Nukaga Fukushiro in Tokyo on December 4 as part of his ongoing official visit to Japan.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man held talks with Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan Nukaga Fukushiro in Tokyo on December 4 as part of his ongoing official visit to Japan.

Nukaga warmly welcomed the Vietnamese top legislator’s first official visit to Japan in his new capacity, and expressed his sympathy to Vietnam over the damage caused by Typhoon Yagi. He reaffirmed Japan's commitment to continue cooperating with and assisting Vietnam in disaster prevention and recovery efforts in the coming time.

He expressed pleasure that Vietnam’s President Luong Cuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had held meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru in the past month, which showed the strong, trust-based relationship among leaders of the two countries. He emphasised that Japan considers Vietnam a key partner in its foreign policy towards the region and hopes the Vietnam-Japan comprehensive strategic partnership will continue to develop effectively, substantially, and robustly.

Chairman Man congratulated Nukaga on his re-election as Speaker of the House of Representatives and conveyed warm greetings from Party General Secretary To Lam, President Luong Cuong, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to the Speaker. He also expressed gratitude for Japan's support in mitigating the impact of Typhoon Yagi.

The Vietnamese NA leader affirmed that Vietnam regards Japan as one of its top long-term partners and supports Japan in playing an active role in and contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

The two sides shared the delight at the continued comprehensive development of the Vietnam-Japan comprehensive strategic partnership after one year of launching their new relationship framework, with high level of political trust, increased high and all-level exchanges. The cooperation between the Vietnamese NA and the Japanese House of Representatives has also been promoted, they noted.

They pledged to further reinforce bilateral political trust, deepen cooperation across all channels of Party, Government, parliament, and people-to-people exchange, and encourage exchanges and visits at high and all levels.

They agreed to enhance cooperation between the Vietnamese NA and the Japanese House of Representatives through the increase of exchanges among specialised committees, the Parliamentarians’ Friendship Groups, and young and female legislators. They will promote the sharing of experiences among parliamentary committees, while discussing the possibility of signing a cooperation agreement to enhance the cooperation effectiveness of the two legislatures, facilitating both bilateral and multilateral activities.

Both sides also agreed to promote collaboration in the fields of security and defence, including the implementation of agreements on defence technology and equipment transfer, as well as enhancing cooperation in United Nations peacekeeping activities. Japan affirmed its support for Vietnam in addressing the consequences of war, and disaster relief and rescue operations.

The Vietnamese top legislator appreciated Japan for providing official development assistance (ODA) capital for Vietnam over the past 30 years, suggesting the country implement a new-generation ODA programme for Vietnam, with high incentives, and simple and flexible procedures in large-scale strategic infrastructure development projects of the Southeast Asian nation; as well as support Vietnam in training high-quality human resources.

Man affirmed that the Vietnamese NA is actively improving the legal framework and the investment environment to support foreign enterprises, including those from Japan, to increase stable and long-term investments in Vietnam; and ensure fairness and equality between Vietnamese and foreign investors.

Nukaga affirmed that the National Diet of Japan supports the two countries to strengthen economic, ODA, investment, and trade cooperation, saying that his country is promoting the diversification of supply chains. Many Japanese companies have expressed their wish to expand their investments in Vietnam and hoped for the improved investment environment in the country, he noted.

The two sides agreed to expand comprehensive cooperation into new areas such as artificial intelligence, digital transformation, innovation, digital society, green transition, and energy transition, as well as investment cooperation in training human resources.

Man called for Japan's support for Vietnam to engage more deeply in the global semiconductor supply chain of Japanese companies. He also suggested strengthening labour cooperation and locality-to-locality connection.

Nukaga highly valued contributions made by the Vietnamese community in Japan to the host country's socio-economic development, showing his commitment to expanding job opportunities for Vietnamese workers, as well as improving their living and working conditions, and ensuring equal social welfare for Vietnamese in Japan.

Regarding international and regional issues, the two sides agreed to enhance coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums and mechanisms such as ASEAN, the UN, as well as multilateral parliamentary forums like the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), and the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF).

Man took the occasion to invite his Japanese counterpart to pay an official visit to Vietnam in an appropriate time./.