President Vo Van Thuong sets off for official visit to Japan

This is the first visit to Japan by President Thuong and the fourth trip to the East Asian country by Vietnamese presidents since the two countries established diplomatic ties 50 years ago.

President Thuong and his spouse are accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang, Chairman of the Presidential Office Le Khanh Hai, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang, Deputy Minister of National Defense Hoang Xuan Chien, Deputy Minister of Public Security Tran Quoc To, and Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu, among others.

Vietnam and Japan established diplomatic relations on Sept. 21, 1973. The countries upgraded ties to strategic partnership in 2009, and to extensive strategic partnership in 2014.

The bilateral relationship has been consolidated by political trust and shared viewpoints in many cooperation matters in the region and the world.

Japan was the first G7 country to recognize Vietnam's market economy. It has invited Vietnam to attend the expanded G7 Summit twice.

The country is one of Vietnam's most important economic partners, being its biggest ODA sponsor, second biggest partner in terms of labor cooperation, third in terms of investment and tourism, and fourth in trade.

Bilateral trade revenues reached nearly US$50 billion last year, including $24.2 billion of Vietnam exports.