Vietnam, Japan defence cooperation to grow further

Deputy Minister of Defence Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh and his Japanese counterpart Ro Manabe reached the agreement during their meeting on June 5 as part of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to Japan and attendance of the 23rd International Conference on the Future of Asia.

This year, Japan receives 12 trainees from Vietnam’s Ministry of Defence to pursue BA, MA, PhD in information and technology, telecommunication-electronics engineering, international relations and strategy research.

The Japanese side is working with the Vietnamese defence ministry to test dioxin settlement technology. In addition, the two sides have strengthened collaboration in sea search and rescue.

Lauding the Japanese Government’s provision of an Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan to build six new patrol ships for Vietnamese Coast Guard, the Vietnamese deputy defence minister said that the move enhances maritime cooperation between the two nations.

The Vietnamese Party, Government and Army have attached importance to addressing post-war consequences, Vinh said, asking for Japan’s ODA to tackle land contaminated with Agent Orange/Dioxin at Bien Hoa airport as well as leftover bombs and mines.

At the meeting, the two defence leaders also expressed their wish to study and ink the Vietnam-Japan defence cooperation vision to plan future collaboration.