Tokyo (VNA) – PresidentTran Dai Quang had a meeting with Chuichi Date, Speaker of House of Councillorsof the Japanese National Diet in Tokyo on May 30 during which the two sidessaid they are pleased with strong growth of the Vietnam-Japan ties.

Speaking at themeeting, Chuichi Date expressed his pleasure to welcome President Tran DaiQuang and the high-level Vietnamese delegation to Japan when the two countriesare celebrating the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic ties. Hethanked President Quang, his spouse and Vietnamese people for their warmreception for Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko when they visitedVietnam in early 2017.

He also said he ispleased to see the strong, comprehensive and practical development of theVietnam-Japan extensive strategic partnership with a number of high-levelvisits and people-to-people exchanges in recent years.

President Quang, forhis part, also expressed his delight at the robust and substantive growth ofthe bilateral relations over the past 45 years, especially since the twocountries upgraded their ties to the Extensive Strategic Partnership for Peaceand Prosperity in Asia in 2014.

Vietnam always seesJapan as a top and long-term partner, he emphasised.

The Vietnamese Stateleader proposed the two nations to step up cooperation between theirlegislative bodies with enhanced exchanges of information and experience in lawmaking. He also asked his host to support the promotion of Japanese trade andinvestment activities in Vietnam and the continued ODA provision for theSoutheast Asian nation’s key projects, particularly in high-quality humanresources training and climate change adaption.

Furthermore, he wantedthe two sides to continue strengthening cooperation in labour affairs,expanding people-to-people exchanges and creating conditions for their peopleto live, study and work in each country.

He moved on to ask theNational Diet of Japan to strongly back ASEAN’s stance on the East Sea issueand help Vietnam improve the capacity of marine law enforcement forces.

Speaker Chuichi Datehighly spoke of Vietnam’s success in hosting the 26th Meeting of theAsia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-26) and suggested the two sides furtherbolster ties at multilateral parliamentary forums and promote exchanges betweentheir parliamentary agencies, particularly between young parliamentarians inthe time ahead.

He affirmed Japan willcontinue partnering with and assisting Vietnam in the socio-economicdevelopment, contributing to taking the bilateral extensive strategicpartnership to a new height for the benefit of the two countries’ people.

President Tran DaiQuang and his spouse are on a State visit to Japan from May 29 to June 2. Thevisit aims to affirm Vietnam’s consistent external policy of independence,self-reliance, multilateralisation and diversification in internationalrelations, as well as the importance that the country attaches to strengtheningthe extensive strategic partnership with Japan.

The visit also seeks to bolster the close relationship and political trustbetween senior leaders of Vietnam and Japan, contributing to strengthening thebilateral extensive strategic partnership.

Vietnam and Japan setup their diplomatic ties in September 1973. Over the past years, the twocountries have become important partners of each other in many fields. SinceVietnam and Japan lift their relationship to Extensive Strategic Partnershipfor Peace and Prosperity in Asia in March 2014, the two sides have enjoyedstrong, comprehensive and practical progress in bilateral ties.-VNA