Japanese Prince to Pay Visit to Vietnam Early Next Year
Japanese Prince Naruhito will pay a visit to Vietnam next February to beef up the bilateral friendship ties, Vietnamese state media said, quoting Prime Minister Taro Aso in Tokyo recently.
PM Taro Aso said signing of the economic partnership agreement, the 10th free trade pact by Japan partners and the first one for Vietnam, between Vietnam and Japan in Tokyo Dec 25 will bring the bilateral cooperation to new heights, the state-run Thanh Nien newspaper said.
Japan is interested in cooperative projects with Vietnam such as construction of a first nuclear power plant, imminent launch of a second satellite, Taro Aso noted.
Under the signed pact, Vietnam and Japan will exempt 92 per cent of bilateral trade in the next decade, a very import deal in the face of the global downturn.
Vietnam reported trade surplus of US$200 million with Japan out of two-way trade of US$14.2 billion in Jan-Oct this year. Japan is the third biggest FDI investor in Vietnam with pledged US$5.1 billion during the period.
Recently, Japan halted new ODA aids for Vietnam at the CG meeting due to PCI scam, which slashed 7.2 per cent pledged ODAs by donors for Vietnam next year to US$5.014 billion, state media said. (Young People)
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