Hanoi (VNA) – Theupcoming State visit to Japan by President Tran Dai Quang and his spouse fromMay 29 to June 2 is expected to bolster the already sound partnership betweenthe two countries.

Vietnam and Japan setup their diplomatic ties in September 1973. Over the past years, the two countrieshave become important partners of each other in many fields. Since Vietnam andJapan lift their relationship to Extensive Strategic Partnership for Peace andProsperity in Asia in March 2014, the two sides have enjoyed strong,comprehensive and practical progress in bilateral ties.

Japan was the first G7country to welcome the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam(CPV) in 1995, and also the first G7 member to set up a strategic partnershipwith Vietnam in 2009, recognise Vietnam’s market economy in 2011, and inviteVietnam to join the expanded G7 Summit in May 2016.

Bilateral partnershipis now at its best time in history since the establishment of diplomaticrelationship. Senior leaders of the two sides have maintained regular visitsand meetings at international and regional forums. The Prime Minister of Japanvisited Vietnam 10 times, while the Speaker of the Japanese House ofRepresentatives made two visits to Vietnam.

Speaker of the Houseof Councillors of Japan Yamazaki visited Vietnam in December 2015, while PrinceAkishino paid an official visit to Vietnam in June 1999 and a private visit inAugust 2012. The Crown Prince visited Vietnam in 2009, while the JapaneseEmperor and Empress visited Vietnam in 2017.

Meanwhile, the GeneralSecretary of the CPV made four visits to Japan, while the State President madetwo visits, the Prime Minister made six official visits and nine workingvisits, and the National Assembly leader also made two official visits to Japan.

The two sides have implementedimportant cooperation mechanisms, including the Vietnam-Japan CooperationCommittee co-chaired by the two Foreign Ministers (which has met 9 times since2007), the bilateral strategic dialogue on diplomacy-security-defence at DeputyForeign Ministerial level (six meetings since 2010), the Vietnam-Japan defencepolicy dialogue at deputy ministerial level (five meetings since November 2012),and security dialogue at deputy ministerial level (five meetings since November2013), the joint committee on trade, energy and agriculture cooperation (twomeetings since 2014), and the agricultural dialogue at ministerial level (threemeetings since 2014).

The two sides havecooperated closely and effectively at multilateral forums such as the UnitedNations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation Forum (APEC), and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

Japan has been theleading economic partner of Vietnam. The two sides have granted each other themost favoured nation tariff since 1999. In 2017, two-way trade revenue reached33.4 billion USD, a rise of 16.8 percent over 2016. In the first three monthsof 2018, the figure reached 8.7 billion USD, up 15.7 percent over the sameperiod last year.

In 2017, Japaneseinvestment in Vietnam hit a record high at 9.11 billion USD, making it thebiggest investor in Vietnam. As of March 2018, Japan has run 3,693 FDI projectsin Vietnam worth 49.839 billion USD, ranking second in 116 countries andterritories investing in Vietnam.

From the beginning of2018 to March 20, Japanese investors poured 592.67 million USD into 96 new projects,42 underway projects and capital contribution or share purchase deals, turningJapan into the fourth largest foreign investor of Vietnam.

So far, Japan has beenthe biggest ODA provider of Vietnam, focusing on infrastructure building,competitiveness enhancement, high-quality human resource training and climatechange, greatly contributing to Vietnam’s socio-economic development.

From 1992 to the endof the 2016 fiscal year (March 2017), Japan committed about 30.5 billion USD ofODA for Vietnam. Last year, the two sides signed deals for five projects fundedby Japanese ODA loans, three ODA borrowing agreements, and four projects usingJapanese non-refundable aid. Japan has also pledged to provide ODA to two new projectsin the 2017 fiscal year.

Bilateral partnershipin security-defence, agriculture, education-training, and labour have also beenfruitful. People-to-people exchange, cultural and tourism affiliation have seenstrong development.

At the same time, bilateralagricultural partnership achieved a breakthrough in September 2015 with the signingof an agreement on middle and long-term joint vision in agriculturalcooperation on the occasion of the Japan visit of General Secretary of the CPV NguyenPhu Trong.

Cooperation in climatechange response has also been expanded, with Japan continuously providing ODAto Vietnam in the field.

In labour cooperation,since 1992, Japan has received a large number of Vietnamese apprentices. Thetwo sides have signed a memorandum of understanding on Japan’s receiving Vietnamesenurses and orderlies and another on cooperation in apprenticeship.

The Vietnam-Japaneducation-training partnership has expanded in many forms. Japan has been oneof the biggest providers of non-refundable aid to Vietnam’s education andtraining sector. The two sides signed many cooperation deals in the field,including an agreement on the training of 1,000 doctoral degree holders forVietnam to 2020 and the teaching of Japanese in Vietnam.

So far, about 75,000Vietnamese students are studying in Japan. The Japanese side is alsocooperating with Vietnam in upgrading four Vietnamese universities and inestablishing the Vietnam-Japan University to train high-quality human resourcefor Vietnam in science-technology, management and service.

In 2017, Japan rankedthird in the number of tourists to Vietnam. In the first three months of thisyear, the number of Japanese tourists to Vietnam reached 215,427, up 6.9percent over 2017, ranking third after China and the Republic of Korea.

Japan opened its GeneralConsulate in Ho Chi Minh City, while Vietnam also launched its GeneralConsulate in Osaka and Fukuoka. In June 2010, Vietnam appointed two HonoraryConsuls General in Nagoya city of Aichi Prefecture and Kushiro city in HokkaidoPrefecture of Japan.

Since July 1, 2014,all Japanese citizens enjoy short-term visa exemption in Vietnam.

Since May 1, 2005,diplomatic and official passport holders of Vietnam and Japan have beenentitled to visa exemption for 90 days. Japan has also loosened its visa policyfor Vietnamese citizens.

The State visit ofPresident Tran Dai Quang and his spouse aims to affirm Vietnam’s consistentexternal policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation anddiversification in international relations, as well as the importance that the countryattaches to strengthening the extensive strategic partnership with Japan.

The visit also aims tobolster the close relationship and political trust between senior leaders ofVietnam and Japan, contributing to strengthening the bilateral extensive strategicpartnership.-VNA