Prime Minister Ishiba‘s Remarks at the Joint Press Occasion with Prime Minister Chinh of Viet Nam

Hello everyone. Xin chào. My wife and I deeply appreciate the warm welcome we have received from the people of Viet Nam.

I would also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Prime Minister Chinh, the members of his cabinet, and senior government officials for the warm welcome and kind hospitality that has been shown to us.

My visit to Viet Nam is the first by a Japanese prime minister since our bilateral relationship was elevated to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World.”

Viet Nam has declared a “New Era,” and Japan believes that strengthening relations with Viet Nam, which is situated in a place of geopolitical strategic importance and continues to enjoy robust economic growth, will contribute to the stability and prosperity of both our countries, and by extension, the region, as indicated by the name of our partnership.

Based on this understanding, following my meeting and dinner with General Secretary To Lam last evening, I held a summit meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh today, and we reaffirmed our desire to upgrade cooperation in a wide range of fields.

First, with regard to the security field, we agreed to establish a vice-ministerial-level Foreign and Defense Policy Dialogue (2+2) and to further advance specific security cooperation, including in the area of defense equipment and technology. We also held constructive discussions on Japan’s Official Security Assistance (OSA) initiative.

As the global economy faces growing uncertainty, concerns are mounting over its impact on the Southeast Asian region. One of the key objectives of my visit has been to listen carefully to the views expressed by Viet Nam on this matter.

With regard to the economic field, I welcomed the direction of the “New Era” set forth by Viet Nam and reaffirmed Japan’s commitment to supporting the advancement of Viet Nam’s industries through cooperation in emerging sectors, including semiconductors and Green Transformation (GX).

Japan will continue to support Japanese companies as they expand their investments and business operations in Viet Nam and will also cultivate human resources in Viet Nam’s semiconductor sector. Going forward, we will support the acceptance of approximately half of the 500 doctoral students that Viet Nam aims to foster in semiconductor-related fields.

We will steadily advance projects at a total scale of approximately US$20 billion as part of Japan-Viet Nam cooperation on decarbonization and energy, centered on the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC).

We also reaffirmed we will work to improve Viet Nam's environment for investment and economic cooperation to further facilitate the business activities of Japanese companies operating in the country.

We will also leverage Japan’s strengths to promote cooperation in developing subway systems and other infrastructure and in preventing rust in regional areas. These efforts will assist in both developing Viet Nam’s economy and reducing disparities, while also supporting the development of a resilient and sustainable agricultural and food system.

We also had a wide-ranging discussion on the current state of the global economy and its impact on the multilateral free trade system. Many Japanese companies are contributing to the local economy in Viet Nam. I conveyed to Prime Minister Chinh Japan’s sincere intention to continue listening attentively to the views emerging from Viet Nam.

Furthermore, with regard to people-to-people exchanges, recognizing that many Vietnamese nationals are already dynamically engaged in Japanese society, we reaffirmed our commitment to further boost our bilateral exchanges through opportunities such as Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.

We also confirmed the importance of developing Vietnam-Japan University.

With regard to regional and international affairs, we reaffirmed our commitment to working together to maintain and strengthen a free and open international order based on the rule of law.

I emphasized the importance of continued Japan-Viet Nam cooperation in addressing challenges such as the global economy, the situations in the East China Sea and South China Sea, issues related to North Korea including nuclear and missile activities and the abduction issue, as well as the situation in Myanmar. We agreed to maintain close communication going forward.

Taking into account that Viet Nam serves as the co-chair of the Japan-Mekong cooperation framework this year, we will also advance Japan-ASEAN and Japan-Mekong cooperation.

As an irreplaceable partner, Japan will continue to walk hand in hand with Viet Nam in the “New Era.” Thank you.