Hanoi (VNA) – The upcoming visit toJapan by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc from June 27 to July 1 during which hewill attend G20 Summit shows how important the two countries’ partnership is toVietnam.

The visit, made at the invitation of JapanesePrime Minister Shinzo Abe, is expected to open new cooperation opportunitiesbetween the two countries and promote bilateral relations.

In recent years, relations between Vietnam andJapan have grown rapidly. Japan was the first G7 country to establish astrategic partnership with Vietnam in 2009 and recognise Vietnam’s marketeconomy in 2011.

In May 2016, Japan was also the first G7 countryto invite Vietnam to attend the expanded G7 Summit.

During the State visit to Japan by PresidentTruong Tan Sang in March 2014, the two countries elevated their relations to anextensive strategic partnership.

Two-way trade in the first five months of 2019reached 15.28 billion USD, a year-on-year rise of 3.2 percent.

As of May 2019, Japan had 4,149 valid foreigndirect investment (FDI) projects in Vietnam with total registered capital of morethan 57.4 billion USD, ranking second among the 116 countries and territoriesinvesting in Vietnam.

Besides trade and investment, Vietnam and Japanhave been developing cooperation in agriculture, climate change adaptation,education-training, tourism, and locality-to-locality cooperation.

In September 2015, the two sides signed amedium-to long-term vision for agricultural cooperation, and renewed it in May2018.

Cooperation in climate change adaptation hasdeveloped strongly with the provision of official development assistance (ODA)from Japan in recent years for Vietnam.

Cooperation in education and training has beendeveloping under various forms. Japan is one of the biggest providers ofnon-refundable aid packages for the education-training sector in Vietnam.

The two countries have signed severalcooperation documents in this field. Japan is cooperating with Vietnam to buildthe Vietnam – Japan University to train high-quality human resources inscience-technology, management and services.

Japan is also supporting Vietnam to teachJapanese language at some primary and secondary schools in Hanoi and Ho ChiMinh City.

In October 2018, the two sides inked a deal oncooperation in implementing measures to reduce the number Vietnamese students breakingthe law in Japan.

Japan is one of the countries with the highestnumber of tourists to Vietnam. The two nations have signed a joint statement ontourism cooperation. From January 1, 2004, Vietnam unilaterally waived visasfor Japanese to travel and trade in Vietnam for 15 days. From July 1, 2004,Vietnam exempted short-term entry visa for Japanese passport holders.

On March 8, 2005, the two sides exchanged adiplomatic note on visa exemption for Vietnamese and Japanese citizens holdingdiplomatic and official passports for a stay of not more than 90 days startingfrom May 1, 2005.

Japan started relaxing regulations for grantingmultiple entry visa from September 30, 2014, and further loosened them fromFebruary 15, 2016 and single entry visa from November 20, 2014 for Vietnamesecitizens.

The two countries have also promoted locality-to-localitycooperation and more than 40 pairs of Vietnam-Japan localities have signedcooperation agreements.-VNA