Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc landed at Narita International Airport in Tokyo on October 22 morning, starting his trip to Japan for the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Naruhito.

Among the welcoming guests at the airport were representatives of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Vu Hong Nam.

Crown Prince Naruhito ascended the throne as the 126th Emperor of Japan on May 1, starting the Reiwa era.

Earlier, right after Emperor Naruhito had come to the throne, Vietnamese senior leaders extended congratulations to him.

More than 400 distinguished guests who are heads of states and senior leaders of more than 190 countries and international organisations are expected to attend the ascension ceremony on October 22 afternoon.

PM Phuc’s participation in the coronation ceremony indicates Vietnam’s respect for the extensive strategic partnership with Japan.After 45 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties, the Vietnam- Japan relationship are in its most prosperous period ever.

Last year, Japan was Vietnam’s top important economic partner, the largest provider of official development assistance (ODA), the second largest investor and the fourth largest trade partner. Two-way trade hit US$29.16 billion in the first nine months of this year.
As of September 2019, Japan had more than 4,200 valid projects worth more than US$60 billion in Vietnam, ranking second among 132 countries and territories investing in the country.

Japan and Vietnam signed numerous documents on education and training cooperation. As of June 2018, there were approximately 80,700 Vietnamese students in Japan.  

In 2018, the two countries signed three diplomatic notes on the exchange of non-refundable aid worth about US$ 34 million. Japan pledged a loan of roughly US$142 million to vocational training in Vietnam.

Japan is also one of the countries having the largest number of visitors to Vietnam with last year seeing around 826,000 arrivals.

Vietnam and Japan also frequently boost closer collaboration and offer mutual support at multilateral forums on international and regional issues, including the East Sea matter.

During the visit to Japan, PM Phuc is scheduled to have several bilateral meetings with other leaders from countries attending the event.