Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae presided over a welcome ceremony for General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam in Tokyo on November 9 afternoon (local time).

The top Vietnamese leader is accompanied by his spouse and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation on an official Japan visit from November 8 - 11 at the invitation of the Japanese State.

At the ceremony, PM Takaichi invited the Vietnamese leader to step into the place of honour as the military band played the Vietnamese and Japanese national anthems. She then invited the guest to inspect the Honour Guard.

 The two leaders introduced members of their high-ranking delegations attending the ceremony. Afterward, they led their delegations into talks.

Vietnam and Japan established diplomatic ties on September 21, 1973. Over 50 years of cultivation, friendship and cooperation have been continuously nurtured and comprehensively developed across various fields. Political trust has been steadily stronger, with regular visits and contacts at various levels and cooperation expanding from leadership to people through the Party, Government and legislature channels.

Dialogue mechanisms have been kept effective, and common perceptions, commitments and agreements among high-ranking leaders and committees, ministries and agencies have been moving seriously, building a solid political foundation for bilateral ties. Japan remains one of Vietnam’s top economic partners and its largest official development assistance (ODA) provider. More Japanese firms in hi-tech fields, especially artificial intelligence (AI), are showing interest and expanding operations in Vietnam.

Alongside bilateral collaboration, Vietnam and Japan are working more closely at global and regional forums. The two sides regularly share views on issues of mutual concern and foster coordination on global and regional issues, contributing positively to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

The visit is expected to turn agreements and commitments reached by high-ranking leaders into practical cooperation schemes and projects across various fields, and make positive contributions to each country’s development goals as well as global and regional peace, cooperation and development.