Vietnam upgrades ties with Japan to highest level

Panasonic Holdings

27/11/2023 14:24

HANOI, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Vietnam and Japan on Monday
officially upgraded their relations to a "comprehensive
strategic partnership" during a visit by Vietnamese president Vo
Van Thuong to Tokyo. 
    The move underlined Vietnam's increasingly strategic role as
an important link in global supply chains amid trade tension
between China and the West, which is helping to bring foreign
investment to the southeast Asian country as some companies
relocate operations from China.
    "This is an important event, opening a new chapter in the
Vietnam-Japan relation," Thuong said in a speech broadcast on
national television. 
    The elevation of ties with Japan followed Vietnam's historic
upgrade of relations with the United States in September, when
the former foes signed multiple cooperation agreements,
including on semiconductors and critical minerals.
    Vietnam has designated five other countries as comprehensive
strategic partners, including China, India, Russia, South Korea
and the United States. 
    Japan is Vietnam's third-largest source of foreign
investment and its fourth-largest trading partner, with
bilateral trade reaching $50 billion last year.
    Several Japanese multinationals, such as Canon  7739.T ,
Honda  7267.T , Panasonic  6752.T  and Bridgestone  5108.T , are
among the largest foreign investors in Vietnam, turning it into
a regional manufacturing hub, with one of the fastest-growing
economies in Asia. 
    Vietnam and Japan, both embroiled in separate maritime
disputes with China, in 2020 reached a $348 million Japanese
loan agreement for Vietnam to build six patrol vessels. 

 (Reporting by Khanh Vu, editing by Ed Osmond)
 ((khanh.vu@thomsonreuters.com; +84 24 38259623;))