Vietnam Prime Minister Leaves Canada for Japan

Vietnam Prime Minister Phan Van Khai wrapped up his trip to Canada early this morning and is to make a stopover to Japan before he returns home.

During a five-hour stay in Tokyo, Khai is scheduled to talk with his Japanese counterpart Junichiro Koizumi and other senior officials of the Japanese government.

The Vietnamese top leader will be a “special guest” of Prime Minister Koizumi, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Hattori Norio said in an interview with a Vietnamese local newspaper. The two leaders have established a close relationship and both feel that it is necessary and important to meet as often as possible, he added.

Before his departure from Canada, Khai and his entourage visited Toronto, Ontario's capital, on June 29, the third and last leg of his official visit to the country.

During his meeting with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, they both agreed to promote cooperation between Vietnamese and Canadian localities in a number of fields including trade, investment, finance, science, technology and culture.

He asked the Ontario Premier to encourage and facilitate Ontario businessmen to pour long-term investment into Vietnam while affirming that the Vietnamese government will create a favorable business environment for Ontario's investors seeking business opportunities in the country.

Khai also visited Manulife Financial, Canada's leading financial services company, which provides services to millions of clients in 19 countries and territories around the world, including Vietnam.

The Manulife Financial President informed Khai that Manulife Vietnam would build its headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City this year. The headquarters, estimated to cost US$8 million, will be inaugurated in 2006. [Manulife Financial set up Manulife Vietnam in June 1999. The wholly foreign owned company has so far serviced more than 300,000 clients in Vietnam].

On June 30, Khai attended the Vietnam-Canada Business Forum with the participation of 200 entrepreneurs in Toronto.

The US, Canada and Japan are included in the second trip abroad of Prime Minister Khai this year but the visit marked a historic event between Vietnam and the US relations.

Khai is the first high-ranking official of the Vietnamese government traveling to the US since the Vietnam War ended 30 years ago.

• P.V