Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) welcomes Governor of Japan Bank for International Cooperation Maeda Tadashi. (Photo: VNA)

PM Chinh highlighted the strong growth of the Vietnam-Japan relations, noting that Japan has been the leading economic partner of Vietnam, the largest ODA provider, the second biggest labour export market, the third largest investor and the fourth biggest trade partner of Vietnam.

He said he hopes Japan and JBIC will continue to coordinate with Vietnamese agencies to seek more effective collaboration methods to further beef up the Vietnam-Japan Extensive Strategic Partnership in the new period.

The Vietnamese Government leader proposed that Japan and JBIC support Vietnam in building a fast-growing and sustainable economy at larger scale with stronger self-reliance and better international integration.

Vietnam hopes to receive Japan’s support in reaching net-zero emission in 2050 through existing cooperation mechanisms as well as the efficient implementation of the initiative to build a net-zero emission network in Asia and the Asia Energy Transition Initiative, and access the 10-billion-USD support package that Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio pledged at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), he said.

PM Chinh also asked for JBIC's help in policy consultations, capital sources, technology, human resources, and management experience for Vietnam to speed up energy transition and develop renewable energy industry, and improve the capacity in manufacturing of equipment in the field of solar power and wind power.

The Vietnamese leader asked Japan and the JBIC promote the new-generation ODA cooperation programme that he and his Japanese counterpart discussed earlier, while assisting Vietnam in implementing strategic infrastructure projects, especially in the fields of transport, climate change, and digital transformation, as well as in enhancing medical capacity, promoting innovation, education and human resource training.

For his part, Maeda highly valued the achievements that Vietnam has made during the recent tough time, with effective policies to control COVID-19 and ensure economic stability and development. He lauded commitments and actions by Vietnam regarding environment-related issues.

He agreed with the Vietnamese leader’s proposals, and shared a number of ideas and solutions for specific cooperation contents.

He affirmed that JBIC wants to cooperate and accompany with Vietnam in various aspects and areas.

Vietnam is one of the two key partner countries of Japan in ASEAN in implementing cooperation strategies on climate change adaptation to realise the idea of building a net-zero emission community in Asia with specific plans and projects, he stated.