Tokyo (VNA) - The Vietnam Summit in Japan 2023 opened at the University of Tokyo on October 15 as part of activities to mark the 50th founding anniversary of the diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Japan.

The event is a series of seminars held every two years by the Vietnamese Academic Network in Japan (VANJ), the Vietnamese Professionals in Japan (VPJ) and the Vietnamese Youth and Students’ Association (VYSA) in Japan.

In his opening remarks, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu highlighted the rapid development of the Vietnamese community in Japan in recent years, which is the second largest foreign community in Japan with nearly 500,000 people.

In this community, many have obtained important positions in teaching, research, and management at prestigious universities and businesses in Japan, the ambassador said, stressing that the community have made great contributions to the development of the Vietnamese community in Japan and the host country’s socio-economic development. They also serve as important bridges promoting friendship cooperation between the two countries.

The firm foundation of scientific and technological cooperation over the past years, along with the development of the Vietnamese intellectual community in Japan, will help create a new pillar - science, technology and innovation cooperation, in the relations between the two countries, Hieu added.

According to Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Bui The Duy, Vietnamese scientific intellectuals abroad are an indispensable force of Vietnam's science and technology sector.

Vietnamese intellectuals in Japan have engaged in many practical activities benefitting their homeland and contributed to establishing and promoting cooperation between Vietnam and Japan, especially in the fields of technology and innovation, he said.

In a plenary discussion on the 50-year relations between Vietnam and Japan, Rector of Vietnam - Japan University, Prof. Furuta Motoo said the key for the bilateral relations in the future will be whether they can build a really equal partnership. According to him, with its rapid development at present, Vietnam has sufficient foundations and conditions to have a bilateral "equal partnership" with Japan.

Participants reviewed the development of Vietnam-Japan relations over the past five decades, and discussed opportunities and challenges posed for the bilateral relationship in the future.

In the framework of the event, many activities have been organised, including an exhibition on science - technology and trade and nine debates gathering 62 speakers, which focus on  directions for Vietnamese people in Japan, challenges and opportunities for Vietnam in microchip technology, and green energy and sustainable development in Vietnam./.