Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Japanese counterpart Suga Yoshihide on Monday discussed on bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues of shared concern over the phone. 

Suga congratulated Pham on his new role as the Prime Minister of Viet Nam, expressing his wish to work with Pham to further advance the extensive strategic partnership between Viet Nam and Japan in the future.

Pham highly valued Japan’s effective assistance for Viet Nam’s national development process during the past years.

He suggested Japan support Viet Nam in (i) developing hard and soft infrastructure in such fields like transport, environment, and digital transformation; (ii) increasing access to COVID-19 vaccines, including through technology transfer; (iii) promoting Japanese investment in diversification of supply chain, and development of digital economy and digital society; increasing reception of Vietnamese trainees in Japan; (v) and helping to train high-quality workforce.

Suga reaffirmed Japan attaches importance to the relationship with Viet Nam, pledging to continue support for Viet Nam’s infrastructure development, especially in transport, energy, environment and space technology.

He stressed that Japan will provide support and collaborate with Viet Nam to ensure the necessary amount of COVID-19 vaccines.

Suga also pledged to support Viet Nam’s digital transformation process and high-quality workforce development.

The two Prime Ministers agreed to strengthen strategic dialogues between sides’ ministries, agencies and localities and coordinate closely in addressing emerging issues in the bilateral ties.

They agreed to organize activities marking the 50th founding anniversary of the Viet Nam-Japan diplomatic relations in 2023.

The two leaders also exchanged views on regional and international issues of shared concern, including the East Sea issue, and committed to continue close coordination at multilateral forums, particularly the UN and ASEAN./.