Under the framework of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s official visit to Japan from November 22 to 25 at the invitation of his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida, Tuoi Tre News had an exclusive interview with Noriyuki Shikata, Cabinet Secretary for Public Affairs at the Prime Minister’s Office of Japan, about the expected outcomes of this trip.

What do you think about the timing of the trip? Why did Prime Minister Fumio Kishida choose to welcome Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh as the first visiting foreign government head since he took office?

Relations between Japan and Vietnam are at their best today, and for Japan, Vietnam is a vital partner to realize the Free and Open Indo-Pacific concept.

Vietnam significantly contributes to the Japanese economy, with many talented Vietnamese people coming to Japan.

Japan wishes to further deepen our friendly bilateral ties in various areas in light of the prime minister’s visit to Japan this week.

From this perspective, we are so delighted to receive the Vietnamese prime minister as the first foreign cabinet leader to visit Japan given our very close bilateral ties.

In your opinion, what are the most potential areas of partnership between the two countries?

We are aware of the huge potential of Vietnam for further growth.

Both countries can significantly contribute to peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is just a case in point.

We can further deepen our collaboration in such fields as security, economy, and culture.

The security landscape in the Indo-Pacific region faces many challenges, and it would be great to discuss our bilateral cooperation on such issues.

Also, it would be great to promote our two-way exchange of students after the pandemic is over.

During Prime Minister Chinh's trip to Japan, is there any plan on sharing COVID-19 vaccines with Vietnam?

What I can tell you at this juncture are as follows.

On November 2 in Glasgow, both leaders confirmed their continuity to cooperate on the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as on the normalization of supply chains involving the Japanese companies in Vietnam.

PM Kishida mentioned that Japan had so far supplied more than four million doses of vaccines to Vietnam and expressed his intention to continue supporting Vietnam’s COVID-19 response efforts.

Thank you for the interview!