Tokyo (VNA) – The Vietnam-Japan relations aregrowing robustly, said Motoyoshi Ryokichi, former General Secretary of theJapan-Vietnam Friendship Association, in an interview with theVietnam News Agency ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio’sofficial visit to Vietnam as part of his first long trip overseas since takingoffice.

According to Motoyoshi, in the past three years, Vietnameseand Japanese leaders have paid regular visits to each other despite COVID-19. Inlate 2020, Kishida's predecessor Suga Yoshihide chose Vietnam as adestination on his first foreign trip since taking office. In November 2021, VietnamesePrime Minister Pham Minh Chinh paid an official visit to Japan and became thefirst foreign leader Kishida received after assuming his PM position.  
Motoyoshi emphasised that tremendous room is available forcooperation between the two countries, especially in economy, trade and human resourcecooperation.

He noted that Japan has an aging population hence the demandfor more foreign workers, while Vietnam has an abundant labour force.Currently, Vietnam is the country with the largest number of technical internsin Japan. Notably, Vietnamese workers make a good impression in Japan thanks totheir intelligence, diligence, and good skills.

He said he believes when the Japanese Government completelylifts entry restriction measures, the number of Vietnamese trainees wouldincrease even more.

As a legal consultant for Vietnamese people in Japan,Motoyoshi said that the authorities and businesses of both countries need to workon further improving the quality of their human resources cooperation, particularlyregarding the training of Vietnamese workers and their working conditions inJapan.

In 2023, Japan and Vietnam will celebrate the 50th anniversary of theestablishment of their diplomatic relations, there willcertainly be a lot of exchange and cooperation activities between the twocountries deployed at all levels across many spheres, said Motoyoshi.

This is a good opportunity for the two peoples to enhancemutual understanding, and together make more practical contributions to theirnations’ socio-economic development and bilateral friendship, he added.

Matsuda Hidekazu, Director of the Japanese-based company GoWell which supplies Asian workers for local businesses, said since the outbreak ofthe COVID-19 epidemic, the number of Vietnamese people seeking advice from hiscompany has increased dramatically, reaching nearly 1,900.

GoWell will try to offer best support possible forforeign students, including Vietnamese, to find good employment.

As planned, Kishida will visit three SoutheastAsian and two European nations, starting with Indonesia on April 29 and 30. After Indonesia, he will be in Vietnam on April30 and May 1, before traveling to Thailand, Italy and the UK./.