Hanoi (VNA) – DeputyPrime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh hosted a reception in Hanoion May 4 for Chairman of the Policy Research Council of the Japanese Liberal DemocraticParty (LDP) Fumio Kishida, who said Vietnam’s development is important to hiscountry and regional connectivity.

Deputy PM Minh expressed his delight at thestrong, comprehensive and practical development of the Vietnam-Japan extensivestrategic partnership, noting that the two countries’ political trust has beenincreasingly reinforced through frequent meetings between their leaders,especially five mutual visits by senior leaders of the countries in 2017.Economic cooperation has continued its vigorous development trend and is a highlightin bilateral relations, he said.

The Deputy PM appreciated Japan’s support forsocio-economic development and competitiveness improvement of Vietnam throughofficial development assistance (ODA) and fruitful investment projects.

Minh and the Japanese delegation also exchangedin-depth opinions about Japanese ODA-funded projects in Vietnam. The hostaffirmed the Vietnamese Government’s consistent policy of effectively andreasonably using ODA capital.

For his part, Kishida noted with satisfactionthe thriving Vietnam-Japan relations over the past 45 years, includingincreasing meetings between their senior leaders.

He spoke highly of Vietnam’s economicdevelopment achievements, noting that Japan is ready to continue supportingVietnam to boost socio-economic development, including building high-qualityinfrastructure, training manpower, and increasing Japanese investments in theSoutheast Asian nation.

At the meeting, the two sides also exchangedviews on international and regional issues of mutual concern, including theKorean Peninsula situation and the East Sea issue.

Kishida highly valued Vietnam’s successfulorganisation of the APEC Year 2017 and its meaningful contributions to globaltrade liberalisation and maintenance of multilateral trade regimes.

He also thanked Vietnam for its close and activecooperation in the negotiations and signing of the Comprehensive andProgressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), hoping that thetwo sides will speed up internal procedures so that the deal can take effectsoon.

Deputy PM Minh affirmed that, as the coordinatorfor ASEAN-Japan relations, Vietnam will coordinate closely with Japan tostrengthen cooperation between ASEAN and Japan in a result-oriented manner. Healso called on Japan to support Vietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2020.-VNA