Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida stated that Japan will deepen its cooperation with ASEAN at a lunch meeting on the occasion of ASEAN's 50th founding anniversary (August 8, 1967 - 2017).
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (Photo: Reuters)
Tokyo (VNA) – Japanese Foreign Minister FumioKishida stated that Japan will deepen its cooperation with ASEAN at a lunchmeeting with Ambassadors of the bloc’s member states on July 11 on the occasionof ASEAN’s 50th founding anniversary (August 8, 1967 - 2017).
At the meeting, the diplomat and ASEAN ambassadors to Japandiscussed a range of topics, including the Regional Comprehensive EconomicPartnership (RCEP), Japan – ASEAN technology cooperation agreement, ASEAN –Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP), and the sides’ collaborationregarding the East Sea issue and actions of the Democratic People's Republic ofKorea.
For his part, Vietnamese Ambassadors to Japan Nguyen Quoc Cuongdescribed Japan as an important strategic partner of ASEAN, and welcomed thecountry’s further contributions to regional peace, security and order based oninternational law.
He noted that Japan is ASEAN’s second biggesttrade-investment partner and the top provider of official developmentassistance (ODA) for the bloc.
The Ambassador said he hopes both sides will soon reachagreement on trade and investment based on the AJCEP in a bid to double bilateraltrade in 2022.
Concerning aviation and maritime cooperation, Cuong said hewishes for more support from Japan and other parties concerned to ensure commonbenefits, particularly in terms of free navigation and overflight in the EastSea.
He urged the sides involved to reiterate their commitment tothe peaceful settlement of the East Sea issue based on international law,including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), respect for legaland diplomatic processes, and the full and effective implementation of theDeclaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), towards the earlyformation of a legally-binding Code of Conduct on the East Sea (COC).
The Vietnamese ambassador also called for continuedassistance from Japan in human resources training for ASEAN, where 60 percentof the population are young people.
Speaking to the media, Fumio Kishida lauded ASEAN’s dynamicmarket and active role in the Asia-Pacific region and reaffirmed Japan’swillingness to back the bloc’s development.-VNA
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Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (Photo: Reuters) 
