Japanese Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko arrived at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on Wednesday afternoon, commencing their official visit to Vietnam until Monday next week.

Their visit is aimed at marking the 50th anniversary of Japan – Vietnam diplomatic ties.

Crown Prince Akishino, 58, is the younger brother of Emperor Naruhito.

Akishino was declared first in line to the chrysanthemum throne in 2020.

This is the third time the Japanese crown prince has visited Vietnam.

His previous visits were made in 1999 and 2012.

Akishino is set to attend a welcome ceremony hosted by Vice-State President Vo Thi Anh Xuan at the Presidential Palace on Thursday morning, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The two top Vietnamese and Japanese officials will hold talks after the ceremony.

Akishino and Kiko will also visit late President Ho Chi Minh’s stilt house and fish pond.

As part of their Vietnam trip, they will sit in on a ceremony to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic ties.

The two and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang will attend the world premiere of the Princess Anio opera, which is about a love story of a Vietnamese princess and a Japanese merchant, at the Hanoi Opera House.

Among his activities in Vietnam, Akishino will meet with State President Vo Van Thuong.

Akishino and Kiko will engage in various activities in Da Nang City and Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam.

The two top Japanese representatives will meet Vietnamese people who had earlier studied and lived in Japan, according to the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam.

Japan is Vietnam’s largest provider of official development assistance.

Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamikawa Yoko said that Japan and Vietnam have been deepening their partnership in numerous fields since their ties were upgraded to a strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in 2014, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

“This year marks the 50-year anniversary of Vietnam – Japan diplomatic relations, so the two nations aim to lift their relationship to a higher level,” said Yoko.

A series of commemorative activities will be organized in the two nations this year, she added.

Akishino’s Vietnam visit will contribute to cementing the two nations’ friendship and partnership, she underlined.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh arrived in San Francisco on Sunday afternoon (local time), starting his seven-day trip to attend the high-level General Debate of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session and other activities.

PM Chinh was welcomed at San Francisco International Airport by the U.S. city’s administration representatives, Vietnamese Ambassador to the U.S. Nguyen Quoc Dung, Vietnamese Consul General in San Francisco Hoang Anh Tuan, and some other consular officials.

Accompanying PM Chinh are nine Ministers of Public Security; Foreign Affairs; Planning and Investment; Finance; Industry and Trade; Culture, Sports, and Tourism; Information and Communications; Health; and Natural Resources and Environment. 

As scheduled, PM Chinh will meet the Vietnamese community in San Francisco upon his arrival and will receive representatives of typical overseas Vietnamese businesses in the city one day later.

During his trip, the PM will attend and deliver a speech at the high-level General Debate of the 78th UNGA session at the General Assembly Hall of the UN Headquarters in New York City.

The event will take place under the theme, ‘Rebuilding Trust and Reigniting Global Solidarity: Accelerating Action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards Peace, Prosperity, Progress, and the Sustainability for All.’

PM Chinh is also expected to speak at the UN Climate Ambition Summit and the UN High-Level Meeting (HLM) on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR), also in New York.

As part of his week-long stay, the Vietnamese government leader will attend a Vietnam – U.S. business forum on technology and innovation, visit large corporations such as NVIDIA, Meta, and Synopsys in San Francisco, and receive a number of local leaders.

He will also meet UN leaders and have bilateral meetings with senior leaders of countries and international organizations, among other activities. 

At a press briefing in Hanoi last week, Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang stressed that the PM’s trip to the U.S. “is extremely important to concretize the outcomes of U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Vietnam,” which took place on September 10-11, during which the two countries released a joint statement to upgrade the Vietnam-U.S. relations to comprehensive strategic partnership.

PM Chinh will wrap up his U.S. trip on Saturday and leave for Brazil on the same day for an official four-day visit at the invitation of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

China and ASEAN should quickly complete negotiations for the third version of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said at the opening of the 20th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (CABIS) in China on Sunday.

PM Chinh on Sunday afternoon wrapped up his trip to neighboring China to attend the two events in Nanning City, the capital city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China, on Saturday and Sunday.

Delivering a speech at the opening of the two events, he suggested the governments of China and ASEAN countries boost their bilateral trade relations in a balanced and sustainable manner.

Their trade surged to US$975.6 billion last year from $78.2 billion in 2003, making them each other’s largest trade partner.

PM Chinh thus called for the two sides’ efforts to make ASEAN China’s first partner to reach trade value of $1 trillion.

He also urged the two sides to expand the piloting of smart border gates to meet their trade demand.

The Vietnamese government leader affirmed that Vietnam supports the cooperation between China and ASEAN in the open-minded, sincere, reliable, and equal spirit for the prosperity of nations in the region and in the world.

ASEAN and China should foster the traffic infrastructure connection and build linkage chains from raw material areas to production centers and consumption systems, the Vietnamese official said.

“We share the same goals and larger mutual benefits when jointly supporting the corporate community to expand their investment, production, and business, creating livelihoods for residents and foundations for peace, stability, and long-term cooperation in the region and in the world as a whole.”

China and ASEAN established the first version of their free trade area in 2010 and laucnhed an upgraded version in 2019.

The negotiations on the third version of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area were launched in November 2022 and expected to finish next year.

Dr. Vu Quy Son from the Institute of Chinese Studies told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the talks between PM Chinh and his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang on Saturday showed the importance of maintaining and boosting high-ranking delegation exchanges between the two countries.

China tends to enhance practical cooperation with Vietnam through its international cooperation initiatives to get the Southeast Asian country’s support in regional and international issues.

It is focusing on the cooperation of ministries, agencies, and the localities bordering Vietnam with equivalent units in Vietnam, Son added.

In the future, China may focus on trade collaboration to ease the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and upgrade infrastructure connectivity with Vietnam and ASEAN as a whole.

Like us on Facebook or  follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!