Vietnamese party chief meets japanese emperor
HANOI - The Japanese government held an official ceremony in Tokyo on 3
October to welcome General Secretary Nong Duc Manh. The Vietnamese
general secretary began an official visit to Japan at the invitation
of Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
After the welcoming ceremony, General Secretary Nong Duc Manh paid a
courtesy visit to Emperor Akihito. The party leader thanked the
emperor for warm welcome for the Vietnamese delegation's visit to
Japan. He also expressed his good impressions of Japan and the
Japanese people. He stressed that the similarities in culture and
history of the two countries have created a firm basis for their
mutual understanding. Emperor Akihito welcomed the Vietnamese party
leader. He expressed his interest in Vietnam's unique traditional
culture. The emperor also expressed his pleasure at the fine
development of bilateral relations. He wished Vietnam and its people
prosperity and happiness.
General Secretary Nong Duc Manh invited the Japanese emperor,
empress, and other members of the Japanese royal family to visit
Vietnam. The emperor accepted the invitation with pleasure.
Later the same day, talks were held between General Secretary Nong
Duc Manh and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The two leaders
informed one another of the situations in their respective countries
and exchanged views on measures to boost the friendly and
cooperative relations between the two countries in the coming
period. They also discussed international and regional issues of
mutual concern.
Reviewing the Vietnam-Japan relationship since the two countries
established diplomatic ties, the two sides were satisfied at the
rapid development of cooperative ties between the two countries in
various fields in the recent past, thus meeting the fundamental
interests and aspirations of the two peoples and contributing to
peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and the world at
large. The two sides agreed to continue building friendly and
cooperative ties between the two countries in the spirit of trusting
partnership and long-lasting stability in the new century.
General Secretary Nong Duc Manh thanked the Japanese government and
people for their assistance with Vietnam's renovation process. He
noted the high value of the Japanese government's Official
Development Assistance ODA to Vietnam over the past years. He also
spoke of orientations to promote and expand bilateral cooperation in
the current period. He stressed that the two sides' efforts to
accelerate economic, commercial, education, training, scientific,
and technical cooperation have laid a solid foundation for reliable
partnership and long-term stability between the two countries. He
added that Vietnam attaches importance to Japan's ODA and Japanese
businesses' investment capital in Vietnam and Vietnam would strive
to improve the investment environment. The early signing of an
agreement on investment encouragement and protection between the two
countries will facilitate operations of investors. General Secretary
Nong Duc Manh also said he hoped that Japan would take positive
measures to encourage Japanese investors to invest in Vietnam.
Regarding Vietnam's external relations, General Secretary Nong Duc
Manh reiterated that Vietnam persists in its open foreign policy of
diversifying multi-lateral relations and giving priorities to
neighbouring countries and countries in Southeast Asia and the
Asia-Pacific region while paying attention to expanding relations
with major countries and international economic and political
centres, as well as countries in other regions for peace, stability,
cooperation, and development.
Prime Minister Koizumi highlighted the current renovation process of
the Vietnamese people and affirmed that Japan will continue to
actively support Vietnam's renovation policy by promoting
cooperation with, investment in, and assistance to Vietnam. He
stated that Japan has been assisting with the deep reform in
Vietnam. He also stressed Japan's support for Vietnam's renovation
process and expressed his hope that Vietnam will put Japan's
Official Development Assistance into good use and continue improving
the economic environment for more Japanese investment in Vietnam.
Prime Minister Koizumi also expressed his wish that the two sides
would sign an agreement on investment guarantees this year to
further boost economic cooperation between the two countries. He
also confirmed that Japan will actively support Vietnam's bid to
join the World Trade Organization.
Also on the same day, General Secretary Nong Duc Manh and his
entourage met with Speaker of the House of Representatives Watanuki
Tamisuke and Speaker of the House of Councillors Kurata Hiroyuki.
Later, he also met with representatives of the Nihon Keidanren and
the Japanese business community.
In the evening, Prime Minister Koizumi held a banquet in honour of
General Secretary Nong Duc Manh and his entourage.
Radio Voice Of Vietnam - October 4, 2002.
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