Hanoi (VNA)– Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc lauded the role of Japan in boostingcooperation and development in the Mekong region over the past years at aninterview granted to Japanese media on the occasion of his visit to Japan and participationin the 10th Mekong-Japan Summit Meeting in the country from October 8-10.

The PM noted that Mekongcountries have gained important socio-economic achievements, making the regionone of the areas with fastest growth speed in the world. During this process,the support of developing partners, including Japan, is significant, he said.

The partnership betweenJapan and Mekong region has been realised through both bilateral andmultilateral cooperation mechanisms in various fields such as politics, diplomacy,economy, trade, education, health care, environment, and tourism.

Japan is one of the Mekongregion’s leading trade, investment partner and ODA provider.

In the Mekong-Japancooperation framework, hundreds of projects worth dozens of billions of USD havebeen successfully implemented, helping regional countries develop transport andindustrial infrastructure, train human resources, improve investment andbusiness environment, protect the environment, respond to climate change, narrowdevelopment gap and reduce poverty, he said.

The PM added thatJapan has also supported the building and development of intra-Mekong economiccorridors such as the East-West and Southern Economic Corridors.

The effective andlong-standing affiliation between the Mekong region and Japan has helped promotepotential and strengths of economies and create more favourable conditions forbusinesses of both sides, thus contributing the boosting sustainable and inclusivegrowth in the region, stated the PM.

The VietnameseGovernment leader held that cooperation potential between Japan and Mekongcountries is huge. He expressed his hope that Japan will continue promoting itsrole as a partner for “high quality development” in the Mekong region throughmaking full use of the country’s strengths in technology and finance and the Mekongregion’s growth speed, market and labour.

In the future, theMekong-Japan partnership should prioritise three pillars of transport infrastructure,energy; soft infrastructure such as institution, trade, investment and peopleconnection; and people-to-people contact.

The two sides shouldfocus on realising a joint vision on a green Mekong through projects andprogrammes on sustainable management and use of Mekong River water resources,smart agriculture and climate change response, he said, adding that Japaneseand Mekong enterprises are encouraged to engage in the process.

The PM asserted thatthe upcoming 10th Mekong-Japan Summit Meeting will open up a new chapter inbilateral partnership, matching the growth of the ties to potential and demandof both sides.

Regarding theVietnam-Japan collaboration over the past 45 years, he highlighted that the twocountries have become important partners of each other with many sharedstrategic interests.

Bilateral ties, whichwere lifted to an extensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity inAsia in 2014, have grown strongly in all fields with closer economic connectivityand strengthened political trust.

Japan has been thebiggest ODA provider of Vietnam and the country’s fourth largest trade partner.In 2017, Japan became the top foreign investor in Vietnam with total investmentof 9.1 billion USD, four times higher than that in 2016, he noted, emphasizingthe great economic support between the two countries.

Defence, security,culture, education-training and tourism collaboration and people-to-people exchangebetween the two countries have also been expanded.

Currently, more than260,000 Vietnamese people are living, studying and working in Japan, becomingthe fifth largest foreign community in Japan. As many as 37 pairs of localitiesof both sides have set up partnerships. Last year, Japan ranked third in thenumber of tourists to Vietnam with 800,000, while 300,000 Vietnamese travelledJapan.

The two countries havealso collaborated closely at international and regional forums such as theUnited Nations, ASEAN Plus, APEC, and ASEM. They coordinated in promotingnegotiations for and signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and talks on the Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP), while backing each other to become a non-permanentmember of the UN Security Council, and collaborating in regional andinternational issues of shared concern, thus contributing to building anAsia-Pacific region of peace, stability, development in line with internationallaw.

The PM said that hebelieves that the Vietnam-Japan partnership will enter a new period ofdevelopment and become more effective, stable and extensive.

After 30 years ofreform, Vietnam has become a dynamic and internationally integrated economy,with trade ties with more than 200 countries and territories around the world.The country has signed and negotiated for 16 bilateral and multilateral tradedeals with nearly 60 partners, including world powers.

In the coming time,Vietnam will continue reforming comprehensively and integrating more deeplyinto the world, raising its competitiveness for rapid and sustainable growth,he said, adding that Vietnam will give optimal conditions for foreigninvestors, including those from Japan, to become successful in Vietnam.

Vietnam welcomesJapanese firms to invest in areas of Japan’s strengths such as high technology,infrastructure building, smart city, supporting industry, hi-tech agriculture,business restructuring, and green and renewable energy, as well as prioritisedareas stated in the Vietnam’s industrialisation strategy, stated the PM.

He underlined that thejoining of the CPTPP showed Vietnam’s strong commitments to continued reform, regionaland international integration, and active engagement in sharing regionaleconomic cooperation and connection frameworks for peace, prosperity andinclusive growth in the Asia-Pacific region, while opening up great chances foreconomic-trade cooperation with many important partners, including Japan.

CPTPP, a newgeneration free trade area of high quality, balanced interests will be a motivationfor Vietnam to continue strengthening reform, completing legal system, improvingbusiness environment and raising competitiveness, contributing to fulfillingall socio-economic targets.

Vietnam is striving tobecome one of the first six countries to ratify the deal, he said, revealingthat the National Assembly will consider approving the agreement at its sixthsession in October and November this year. Vietnam welcomes the expansion ofthe deal, he added.

Regarding the East Seaissue, he affirmed that the sea plays an important role in international trade,while serving as an existence and development space of coastal states.

Countries in andoutside the region have implemented bilateral and multilateral cooperationactivities in various fields in order to maintain peace and stability in thearea, he said, adding that relevant countries have also worked together to seekpeaceful measures to deal with disputes and differences.

However, over the pastyears, the East Sea situation has witnessed many complicated developments,worrying the international community and requiring all parties to strictlyabide by international law, show willingness, exercise restraint, and not toconduct any actions that make the situation more complicated, while fully andeffectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the EastSea (DOC) toward the early signing of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea, hesaid.

PM Phuc stressed thatVietnam shares the viewpoint of ASEAN and the international community onpeacefully dealing with disputes in the East Sea in line with internationallaw, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982, ensuring peace, security,safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the sea.

Vietnam welcomes andshares the perspectives of Japan on the significance of diplomatic efforts for thepromotion of full observance of international law and peaceful settlement ofdisputes, he declared.

The PM also voiced hishope that Japan will continue showing its responsibility and role, togetherwith the international community, to support and contribute to ensuringsecurity, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight, thus bringingprosperity to the East Sea and the whole Asia-Pacific region in general.-VNA