Japan wishes to cooperate with Vietnam in surveying, exploiting and processing rare earths and developing related industries, said the Northeast country's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Nishimura Yasutoshi.
"We spare no effort to carry out projects that lead the development of spearhead industries such as semiconductor production, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, healthcare, and fishery processing," the minister told Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at a meeting in Hanoi on Friday.
For his part, PM Chinh called for Japan’s support for Vietnam to carry out industrialization and modernization, and build an independent and self-reliant economy. He also suggested Japan assist Vietnam in boosting green transition, digital transformation and innovation; developing high technology and semiconductor industries; and surveying, mining, processing and producing new materials.
Vietnam also needs Japanese assistance in fostering the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical equipment sectors, the Vietnamese government chief added.
PM Chinh called for the Japanese government’s support and provision of new-generation official development assistance (ODA) for the country to develop large-scale strategic infrastructure facilities such as the North-South high-speed railway project.
He affirmed Vietnam’s encouragement and optimal conditions for Japanese firms to invest and cooperate in the country. In addition, Vietnam pledges to coordinate closely and effectively implement the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) initiated by Japanese PM Kishida Fumio.
Japan is a leading economic partner of Vietnam and the country's largest ODA donor, with an accumulated amount of $21.6 billion since 1992. There are around 500,000 Vietnamese people in Japan, the second largest foreign community in the “land of the rising sun.”
The two countries established the extensive strategic partnership in 2014 and plan to upgrade their relationship soon.