(VOVworld) – Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on  Friday, during his official visit to Japan from September 12 to 14. He extended Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and other Vietnamese leaders’ congratulations to Tokyo for gaining the right to host the Summer Olympics 2020. Mr. Minh affirmed that Vietnam always considers Japan its top partner, especially in economics and trade. Prime Minister Abe said Japan sees Vietnam as an important partner in the region and wants to boost the bilateral strategic partnership in the future.

Japanese Foreign Minister Kishida (L) welcomes Foreign Minister Pham Binh Binhin Tokyo. (Photo:VNA)

Earlier, Foreign Minister Minh held talks with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida and co-chaired the 5^th meeting of the Vietnam-Japan Committee for Cooperation. The two Ministers agreed to strengthen the two countries’ strategic partnership, including implementation of infrastructure construction projects in Vietnam. They agreed to bring into full play the Joint Vietnam-Japan Initiative with a view to improving Vietnam’s investment environment and sharpening its competitiveness, especially as Japan is Vietnam’s biggest investor, with more than 1,200 businesses operating in the country.

Kishida announced Japan’s US$500 million in official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam to implement key infrastructure projects in 2013.