Vietnam, Japan Kick Off Friendship Year

Both PM Nguyen Tan Dung and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on January 16 declared the opening of the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Year 2013 during the latter’s official visit to Vietnam.

 

During their talks on the same day, PM Dung warmly welcomed Japanese PM Shinzo Abe for selecting Vietnam the first stopover during his Southeast Asian tour after assuming office and his contribution to the fast advancement in the bilateral strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia. 

 

The two sides agreed to strengthen reciprocal high-ranking visits and contacts among respective ministries.

 

Both sides were delighted to witness the fine developments in economic, trade and investment linkages and vowed to closely cooperate to realize the signed agreements, especially on large-scale infrastructure projects.

 

The two countries also agreed to accelerate Japan’s investment into Vietnam and further create favourable conditions for Japanese investors here.

 

PM Shinzo Abe affirmed that Japan would continue to assist Vietnam in achieving targets of industrialization and modernization process.

 

The Japanese PM announced that his country would provide a fresh financial package of US$500 million in official development assistance for infrastructure development.

 

The host took the occasion to thank the Japanese Government and people for supporting Vietnam’s socio-economic development over the last 20 years.

 

The two Government chiefs also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common concern while PM Dung underscored that Vietnam would coordinate closely with the East Asian country in organizing activities to mark the 40th anniversary of ASEAN-Japan Exchange.