Hanoi (VNA) – National Assembly (NA) ChairwomanNguyen Thi Kim Ngan held talks with Speaker of the House of Representatives ofJapan Oshima Tadamori in Hanoi on May 4.

The Vietnamese leader hailed the visit, saying that it will contribute tofostering the relationship between the two countries and the two legislaturesin particular.

She affirmed that enhancing ties with Japan is one of the priorities inVietnam’s foreign policy, noting the regular visits and meetings by all-levelofficials and parliamentarian groups as well as people-to-people exchanges overthe past time. Especially, the first Vietnam visit by Emperor Akihito andEmpress Michiko in February 2017 and the other by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe onemonth earlier have created a momentum for promoting the friendship andcooperation between the two countries.

NA Chairwoman Ngan suggested the two sides closely coordinate in organisingactivities to mark the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic tiesin 2018.

Appreciating the two countries’ determination to double their 2016 trade of 30billion USD by 2020, she stated that Japan has become Vietnam’s leadingimportant economic partner as it is the largest official development assistance(ODA) provider, the second biggest investor with 3,355 valid direct investmentprojects worth 42.49 billion USD, and the fourth largest bilateral tradepartner.

At present, more than 1,600 Japanese businesses are investing in Vietnam.

According to the top legislator, the two sides have carried out a number oflarge-scale projects in the fields of infrastructure and energy in Vietnam. TheJapanese hallmarks have been seen in many infrastructure facilities such asroads, seaports, airports, hospitals and schools.

The completed projects have played an important role in Vietnam’ssocio-economic development, culture and tourism, she stressed.

She noted that in the coming time, Vietnam encourages Japan’s majorcorporations to get involved in the restructuring of State-owned enterprises aswell as the banking system under the form of public-private partnership (PPP).

Expressing her thanks to Japan for assisting Vietnam in overcoming warconsequences, the NA Chairwoman wished Japan to provide non-refundable ODA forVietnam to implement a joint project on dioxin treatment at the Bien HoaAirport.  

Vietnam also hopes to further cooperation with Japan in high technology,support industry and agriculture, especially in climate change response, sheadded.

On this occasion, Ngan suggested the Japanese House of Representatives andSpeaker Oshima Tadamori facilitate the activities of the Vietnamese communityin Japan, thus contributing to the socio-economic development in each countryas well as bridging the Vietnam-Japan friendship.

For his part, Speaker Oshima Tadamori affirmed his wish that the two sidescontinue increasing collaboration between their legislative bodies as well asexchanges between friendship parliamentarians’ groups. He also suggested bothsides further step up relations in politics and economy.

Numerous Japanese businesses have invested in Vietnam, he said, adding thatmany others also show their wish to do business in the country in the comingtime.

Speaker Tadamori agreed with Chairwoman Nganabout the need to boost labour cooperation in which Japan should increase thenumber of Vietnamese apprentices it receives in the fields of agriculture,fisheries and construction on the basis of Japan’s new law, which will takeeffect in November 2017.

Japan will provide fabourable conditions forforeign workers to study and work in the country, he said, adding that the newlaw on this field will help enhance people-to-people exchanges between the twocountries.

In terms of trade ties, he asked the countriesto implement regulations in global trade agreements, including theTrans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and hoped that they will continue discussionto promote this trade pact.

At the talks, both sides highly valuedcooperation between the two parliaments, friendship parliamentary groups, andparliamentarians of Vietnam and Japan. They voiced their hope that mutualvisits and meetings between parliamentary leaders will be maintained whilecooperation, dialogue and opinion and experience sharing between legislativeagencies should be fostered.

The House of Representatives of Japan supportsthe realisation of the countries’ high-level agreements, Tadamori affirmed,asking the two parliaments to step up supervising the implementation of jointprogrammes and projects between the Vietnamese and Japanese Governments,ministries and sectors.

Speaker Tadamori and Chairwoman Ngan appreciatedthe two friendship parliamentary groups’ efforts to promote the establishmentof the Vietnam-Japan University, which has recorded good initial activities.

They noted with satisfaction that in 2016,nearly 700,000 Japanese tourists visited Vietnam while more than 200,000Vietnamese people chose Japan as their holiday destination. They said the twosides will encourage their tourists to visit each other’s nations in the timeahead.

Japan also wants to cooperate with Vietnam inculture and sports, Tadamori said, adding that his country will host aninternational film festival in the near future and looks forward to Vietnam’sparticipation in this event.

At the talks, the legislators also exchangedviews on some regional and international issues of shared concern, includingthe East Sea issue. They emphasised the need to maintain peace, stability,safety, security and freedom of navigation and over-flight in and above theEast Sea, peacefully settle disputes, respect diplomatic and legal processes,and adhere to international law.

On this occasion, Chairwoman Ngan invitedrepresentatives of the National Diet of Japan to participate in the IPUsymposium on climate change, which will be hosted by the Vietnamese NationalAssembly in Ho Chi Minh City from May 11-13.

Prior to the talks, Speaker Tadamori paidtribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum and laid a wreath at theMonuments to Heroes and Martyrs in Hanoi.

Later the same day, Chairwoman Ngan hosted abanquet in honour of the Speaker of Japan’s House of Representatives and hisspouse.-VNA