Welcoming the Japanese PM's visit as Vietnam is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification, the Vietnamese Party chief affirmed that the visit will open a new chapter in the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two nations.

Party General Secretary To Lam (second, right), and his spouse welcome Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and his spouse in Hanoi on April 27.

Lam extended congratulations to Japan on the grand opening of the Osaka-Kansai Expo 2025.

For his part, Ishiba expressed his delight at returning to Vietnam after 35 years and for the first time in his new role as the government leader of Japan, which coincides with Vietnam's 50th anniversary of the April 30, 1975 victory.

He expressed his admiration for President Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam's national liberation cause, while extending his gratitude to the Vietnamese Party, State, people, and personally to General Secretary Lam for the warm and respectful reception.

The host highlighted Vietnam’s development goals by 2030, marking the centenary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and by 2045, the centenary of the nation’s founding.

He outlined Vietnam’s strategy for economic reform aimed at achieving rapid and sustainable growth in a new era - one of the nation's rise, including creating breakthroughs in science and technology, and streamlining of the political system’s organisational apparatus.

He reaffirmed Vietnam’s consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation, development, diversification, and multilateralisation, and promotion of ties with partners.

He described Japan as one of Vietnam’s most important and long-standing strategic partners.

Ishiba congratulated Vietnam on its socio-economic development achievements, applauding the country’s strategy for a new era, including orientations for economic, science and technology development, as well as efforts to streamline the political system’s apparatus under the leadership of General Secretary Lam.

He expressed his belief that Vietnam will achieve even greater success in the new era and reaffirmed Japan’s commitment to continuing its support for Vietnam’s development.

Highlighting over 1,300 years of historical ties between the two nations, Lam expressed his joy with the robust and comprehensive development of Vietnam–Japan relations with high level of political trust, especially after the recent upgrade to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

He pointed to vibrant high-level exchanges and cooperation across various sectors, including economy, human resources, education and training, green transition, digital transformation, locality-to-locality cooperation, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

The Vietnamese Party chief proposed seven key directions for future cooperation, including enhancing political trust, strengthening substantive and effective security and defence collaboration, and promoting economic collaboration based on science, technology, and high-quality human resources.

He also urged Japan’s active participation in Vietnam’s major infrastructure projects through new-generation ODA funding.

Emphasising the need to identify cooperation in science, technology, and innovation as a new pillar in bilateral relations, Lam called for stronger collaboration in science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and high-quality human resources training.

He also proposed exploiting new potential in labour cooperation, green transition, energy transformation, and high-tech agriculture; and deepening locality-to-locality cooperation, people-to-people connections and cultural exchanges.

Ishiba affirmed that Vietnam is an indispensable partner of Japan, underlining Japan’s continued support to Vietnam's efforts in building an independent, self-reliant economy, implementing industrialisation and modernisation, and realising strategic goals and socio-economic development plans in the new era of development.

Japan will closely work with Vietnam to elevate the Vietnam-Japan comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level, including enhancing party-to-party cooperation between the Liberal Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Vietnam, he said.

The Japanese PM affirmed that Japan will deepen partnerships in economy, ODA, investment, enhance collaboration in security-defence, cyber security, peacekeeping, culture, people-to-people exchange, while promote cooperation in new areas such as digital transformation, innovation, quantum, semiconductors.

An overview of the reception.

He agreed to support the training of high-quality human resources in Japan and at the Vietnam-Japan University, a symbol of cooperation between the two countries.

He also affirmed to continue supporting and creating favourable conditions for the community of more than 600,000 Vietnamese people living, studying and working in Japan.

Japan will send a delegation to attend the World Police Band Concert organised by Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, he said.

Also during the meeting, the host and guest agreed to strengthen coordination at regional and international forums such as the United Nations and ASEAN, especially in the context of the complex international situation, thereby contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

General Secretary Lam took the occasion to invite the Emperor and Empress of Japan to visit Vietnam. Prime Minister Ishiba invited General Secretary Lam and his wife to visit Japan in the near future.