Singapore (VNA) – Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has underlined strongcommitments of ASEAN in promoting and elevating the strategic partnership andcomprehensive cooperation between the grouping and Japan for peace, stabilityand prosperity of each side as well as the whole region.

As the leader of thecoordinator country for the ASEAN-Japan relations, the PM was addressing the 21stASEAN - Japan Summit and the celebration of the 45 years of ties between ASEANand Japan in Singapore on November 14 within the framework of the 33rd ASEANSummit.

He held that theASEAN-Japan strategic partnership and comprehensive cooperation have seen goodprogress in all three pillars, with many practical activities, especially inthe fields of maritime security, anti-terrorism and trans-national criminalcombat, cyber security, nuclear weapon non-proliferation and disarmament, lawenforcement training, jurisdiction promotion and defence cooperation.

Japan is the fourthbiggest trade partner and second largest investor of ASEAN, as well as theleading ODA provider of many ASEAN member countries, he noted.

ASEAN highly valuessupport of Japan through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund in health care,environment, natural disaster control, climate change, science-technology andinnovation, as well as in connection through the implementation of the MasterPlan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025 and ASEAN Plan of Action on narrowing developmentgap, and Mekong-Subregion development.

Sharing PM Phuc’sopinions, other ASEAN countries agreed to further promote the sound cooperationbetween the two sides over the past 45 years and welcomed Japan to continueperforming its active and responsible role in the region, while coordinatingwith ASEAN at forums chaired by the grouping, and contributing to promotingdialogues, building trust and strengthening cooperation on the basis of mutualbenefit and respect.

For his part, JapanesePM Shinzo Abe agreed to foster comprehensive collaboration with ASEAN andsupport the association’s central role as well as efforts in enhancing regionalcooperation and connectivity.

He briefedparticipants on the plan to hold the ASEAN-Japan Day in Vietnam in 2019 tostrengthen mutual understanding between people of both sides.

He also introducedmany cooperation initiatives such as a fund of the Japan Bank for InternationalCooperation (JBIC) to support infrastructure cooperation in the region, highquality human resources development, exploiting opportunities from the FourthIndustrial Revolution, preventing ocean plastic waste, responding to naturaldisasters and climate change, and providing health care services for thepublic.

He stressed that ASEANand Japan should work harder to reinforce opening, equal and law-basedmultilateral trade.

He lauded Singapore,Vietnam and Japan’s ratification of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreementfor Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), expressing his hope for the soon finalisationof negotiations for a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)agreement.

The Japanese PM reaffirmedthe importance of maintaining peace, stability and security, freedom and safetyof navigation and aviation in the East Sea, respecting diplomatic and legalprocesses, and upholding principles of international law, including the UNConvention on the Law of the Sea 1982, while stressing efforts to build aneffective and substantive Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

PM Phuc recognisedideas of Japan, highlighting the ASEAN’s stance on the East Sea issue and hopethat Japan will continue supporting ASEAN’s efforts in strengtheing dialogueand trust, creating a favourable environment for COC negotiations.

He also hailed Japan’sinitiatives to promote connectivity between the rims of Indian Ocean andPacific Ocean, pledging that Vietnam will do its utmost to accelerate theASEN-Japan ties.

Vietnam welcomes theJapanese PM’s idea of organising the ASEAN-Japan Day in Vietnam, he stated, addingthat Vietnam is ready to work with Japan on the event.

Concluding the summit,leaders of ASEAN and Japan agreed to approve a declaration on the 45thanniversary of the ASEAN-Japan friendship and cooperation.-VNA