AmbassadorVietnam in Japan Nguyen Quoc Cuong. (Photo: Nguyen Tuyen/Vietnam+)

On the occasion of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's official visit to Japan from September 15-18, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Quoc Cuong gave an interview to VNA reporters about the role of the visit and preparations for this important event.

- Could you please tell us the purposes and significance of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's visit to Japan this time?

Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Cuong: General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's official visit to Japan next week is of utmost importance, as shown in the following:

Firstly, regarding bilateral relations, the visit aims to deepen the “extensive strategic partnership” established in March 2014 between Vietnam and Japan, bringing the relationship between the two countries to a new level and developing more comprehensively.

The relationship between the two countries is at its best stage of development ever, but at the same time, the potential to further develop this relationship in the coming years is still very large, and that potential is demonstrated in all areas, from politics, security, defense, to economics, trade and investment, education and training, science and technology, labor, tourism, culture, and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries...

Therefore, during this visit to Japan, the General Secretary and the high-ranking delegation of the Party and State will have meetings with the Emperor, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, leaders of major political parties in Japan, the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians' Alliance, leaders of agencies, major economic groups and many classes of Japanese people to discuss and agree on measures to strengthen political trust and promote relations between the two countries in the above-mentioned fields.

It is expected that during the visit, a number of documents and agreements will be signed between the two sides to realize the above-mentioned goals.

Second, looking beyond the bilateral framework, this official visit to Japan, together with the General Secretary's highly successful visits to China (April 2015) and the US (July 2015), are the most important foreign affairs activities of the Party and State this year.

Those visits are part of a master plan to implement a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization, diversification of relations, proactive and active international integration, and promote relations with traditional friends and important partners of Vietnam to become increasingly deeper and more stable.

The above visits are of even greater strategic importance in the context of the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam to be held early next year.

On the Japanese side, key Japanese leaders such as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Senate President Yamazaki, House Speaker Oshima, and leaders of major Japanese political parties all highly appreciated Vietnam's increasingly enhanced position and role in the region and internationally, and all wished to strengthen substantive and effective relations with Vietnam.

Therefore, it can be said that both sides attach great importance to the visit, wish and make every effort to ensure its success, for the benefit of the people of the two countries, for peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

- How is the embassy preparing for this important event?

Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Cuong: I can only say briefly that both sides are actively preparing for the visit and the preparations are going very smoothly because both sides have a cooperative attitude and wish the visit to be a great success.

In fact, preparations for such an important visit have been planned and promoted for at least several months. In the country, many relevant agencies and ministries have actively participated. The Vietnamese Embassy in Tokyo as well as the Japanese Embassy in Hanoi are only bridges for the preparation work of both sides.

Up to now, the preparation work has basically been completed, in terms of content, program, script for activities, documents, signed agreements, security work, reception, logistics, etc., all have been carefully prepared./.

According to VN+