Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito on February 10 arrived in Vietnam to start his visit as part of bilateral efforts to expand strategic, friendship ties, Vietnamese state media said.
President Nguyen Minh Triet and Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan welcomed Crown Prince Naruhito with highest red-carpet ceremonies.
Vietnam highly values supports by Japan to Vietnam in national construction and economic development, and it also vowed to beef up the bilateral strategic friendship partnership relation and to bring it to new heights, Ms Doan noted during a reception given to Naruhito.
Ms Doan called on Japan to continue to support Vietnam in preserving traditional cultural relics and heritages. In return, Prince Naruhito said Japan attached importance to bilateral relations with Vietnam.
On the same day, Naruhito dropped by Nguyen Dinh Chieu Blind School.
Earlier, Japanese Goodwill Ambassador to Vietnam Sugi Ryotaro told Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung that Japan will resume ODA for Vietnam by April this year after improvements in PCI bribery-related scandal probe.
Party Chief Nong Duc Manh will pay a visit to Japan in April this year, Mr Dung said.
Japan will help train nurses for Vietnam under the economic partnership agreement reached between the two countries last December, Sugi Ryotaro told the Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, War Invalid and Social Welfare.
Japanese is now the biggest bilateral donor of Vietnam and among biggest buyers of Vietnamese goods.
Vietnam has reported trade surplus of US$200 million with Japan out of the bilateral trade of US$14.2 billion in Jan-Oct last year. Vietnam exported US$7.2 billion of goods to Japan and imported US$7 billion of goods from the foreign country, the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment said.
Japan is the third biggest FDI investor in Vietnam with pledged US$5.1 billion during the period, behind Taiwan and Singapore, the ministry said. (The People, Labor, New Hanoi)
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