At the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his wife, Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide and his wife will visit Vietnam officially from October 18-20, 2020.

This is the first foreign visit by Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide one month after taking office (September 16, 2020) and for the second time in a row, the new Prime Minister of Japan chooses Vietnam as his first visit immediately after taking office.

Japan is Vietnam's most important economic partner and the first G7 country to recognize Vietnam's market economy status (October 2011). Japan is the largest ODA donor, the second investor (in cumulative terms), the third tourism partner, and the fourth largest trade of Vietnam. Vietnam and Japan are strategic partners and good friends Vietnam and Japan have shown themselves as two far-reaching strategic partners and good friends in these difficult times, General Secretary, President Nguyen Phu Trong speaking while receiving Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide. Suga in Hanoi on Monday. Secretary Trong said that the Prime Minister of Japan chose Vietnam as the destination for his first overseas trip after being elected as the leader of Japan is an evidence that Japan attaches great importance to Vietnam and its bilateral relationship. how. The General Secretary and President Trong expressed his pleasure that the two countries' relations in recent years have made strong, substantial and effective developments with high political confidence in all fields. in the spirit of the Declaration of the General Vision on Vietnam - Japan relations.

 The two countries have clearly shown the spirit of a broad strategic partnership, good friends in difficult times, actively sharing, cooperating and supporting each other in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. For his part, Mr. Yoshihide Suga expressed his pleasure to return to visit Vietnam in his new position, and at the same time conveyed his thanks to the General Secretary, President of Trong State, leaders of the Government and people of Vietnam. for the Japanese high-level delegation a warm and sincere welcome. . .Japanese Government leader Yoshihide Suga said that he was impressed by the achievements that Vietnam has achieved in its Doi Moi (Reform) efforts along with Vietnam's ability to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. He reaffirmed that Japan attaches great importance to Vietnam's position in the region, always supports the development of Vietnam, and emphasizes that the new Japanese government is committed to inheriting and comprehensively promoting the partnership. the Vietnam - Japan strategy has been diligently built. Leaders of Vietnam and Japan held talks at the Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam in Hanoi on Monday. Vietnam commits to consistently implement a foreign policy of independence, autonomy, peace, cooperation and development, relationship diversification, multilateralization, and deepening relations with partners. Japan has always been considered one of the most important long-term strategic partners of Vietnam with a high level of reliability. Vietnam highly appreciates Japan's stance on South China Sea issues, including the peaceful settlement of disputes and conflicts at sea on the basis of international law, especially the Convention. United Nations on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982.

Vietnam and Japan affirmed that the relationship between the two ruling parties of the two countries will continue to develop in the new period on the basis of a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Vietnamese Communist Party and the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan to creating a real politics. the foundation for the development of bilateral relations in other areas. In terms of economy, Vietnam is not a big partner of Japan. In particular, according to the latest data, the total import-export turnover between the two countries in the first 9 months of 2020 is about 28.6 billion USD. Accumulated to September 2020, Japan has 4,595 valid foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Vietnam with a total registered investment capital of nearly 60 billion USD, ranking second overall. 136 countries and territories invest in Vietnam. These figures are quite modest compared to Japan's total GDP of about $ 5,000 billion. However, the Vietnamese economy has other potentials and strengths, especially the role and position of Vietnam in a strategic partnership with the world's leading power like Japan. Despite the issue of war, Vietnam and Japan have long "set aside the past, looking to the future" to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership of mutual trust and friendship. There are even opinions that it is a relationship of strategic friends, mutual understanding and trust. Japan is one of the 7 most developed industrialized countries in the world (G7), welcomes the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam for the first time in 1995 and is the first G7 country to establish a strategic partnership with Vietnam in 2009, the first G7 country recognized Vietnam's market economy status in 2011, the first G7 country invited Vietnam to attend the G7 Summit in May 2016. The two countries established an Extensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia in March 2014.