Vietnam treasures the sound development and effective outcome of the
bilateral ties between Vietnam and Japan, and hopes to continue
enhancing this strategic partnership, including defence relations.

The statement was made by the Chief of the General Staff of the
Vietnam People’s Army, Sen. Lt. Gen. Do Ba Ty at his talks with Chief of
Joint Staff of Japan’s Self Defence Forces Gen. Shigeru Iwasaki, in
Tokyo on April 15.

Sen. Lt. Gen. Ty is leading a
high-ranking military delegation on an official friendly visit to
Japan at the invitation of Gen. Shigeru Iwasaki.

The Vietnamese guest said the visit is a practical activity to mark the
40 th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, and
will contribute to further stepping up bilateral defence cooperation.

He suggested that the two sides continue the
implementation of cooperation contents within the framework of the MoU
on bilateral defence cooperation including delegation exchange,
experience sharing and training.

He also recommended
closer cooperation at multilateral forums such as the ASEAN Regional
Security Forum (ARF) and the ASEAN Defence Ministerial Meeting Plus
(ADMM+) as well as in humanitarian and natural calamity support
activities.

For his part, Gen. Shigeru Iwasaki
valued the position and role of Vietnam in the region, and stressed
that Vietnam and Japan, as two nations in the Pacific-Asia, share
many similarities. Therefore, Japan pays attention to increasing
multi-faceted cooperation with Vietnam, including in defence
industry.

The same day, Japan’s Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera received the Vietnamese delegation.

He said that the official visit of Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
to Vietnam has affirmed the strategic partnership between the two
countries. The minister also said he supports the cooperation between
the Vietnam People’s Army and Japan’s Self-Defence Forces.

Sen. Lt. Gen. Ty conveyed an invitation to visit Vietnam from
Defence Minister Gen. Tran Quang Thanh to the Japanese Defence Minister.-VNA10