Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan made the suggestion while greeting a delegation from the Japanese Lower House of Parliament in Hanoi on January 19 on the sidelines of the ongoing 26th annual APPF (APPF-26) meeting.

Both sides should maintain high-ranking visits, enhance cooperation between young parliamentarians and join hands to organise activities to mark the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2018, the Vietnamese top legislator noted.

She expressed her hope that the Japanese parliamentary delegation will make practical contributions to the success of the APPF-26, saying that the delegation’s presence at the event is a vivid illustration of Japan’s support for Vietnam to host the annual forum.

Ngan believed that political trust, people-to-people exchanges and cooperation in various fields will be strengthened via the parliamentary diplomatic channel.

She spoke highly of Japan’s support for Vietnam in the past years. Japan is the largest official development assistance (ODA) provider for Vietnam. Both nations have enjoyed robust economic, trade and investment relations with two-way trade valued at US$30.2 billion as of November, 2017 and the two are striving to double the figure by 2020.

She suggested Japan receive more Vietnamese apprentices to acquire working experience, knowledge and advanced technology from the East Asian country.

Meanwhile, Takuji Yanagimoto, head of the Japanese delegation, said that in 2017 Vietnam and Japan enhanced high-ranking exchanges, including the state visit by the Japanese royal couple and the official visit by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Vietnam.

Some 230,000 Vietnamese people are living and working in Japan, making significant contributions to the nation’s socio-economic development.