Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura co-chaired the 5th meeting of the Vietnam-Japan Joint Committee on Cooperation in Industry, Trade and Energy in Tokyo on August 23.

At the meeting, the two sides agreed on measures to strengthen regional and global supply chains, improve industrial competitiveness, promote cooperation in energy transformation towards carbon neutrality, and accelerate the progress of a number of important energy projects.

They also agreed to enhance the utilisation and effective implementation of free trade agreements (FTAs) and coordinate and support each other in multilateral frameworks such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).

Notably, the Japanese side agreed with Minister Dien’s proposal on Japan's continued support for Vietnam in training industrial human resources and improving industrial competitiveness, and the early signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in energy transformation to concretise projects to support Vietnam in energy transition with funding from the Asia Energy Transition Fund.

Japan will also support training and share experience related to liquefied natural gas (LNG) with Vietnam.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) of Vietnam, the above-mentioned measures are extremely important in helping the two economies and businesses of the two countries respond effectively to complicated developments in the world such as geo-politics, inflation, soaring energy prices and disruptions to supply chains.

At the meeting, the ministers expressed their satisfaction over important achievements made since the joint committee’s 4th meeting, including cooperation within ASEAN, RCEP and CPTPP, as well as the bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and Japan in the fields of energy/decarbonisation, supporting industries, industrial human resource development, and other sectors despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

They reaffirmed the important role played by the joint committee mechanism, which was established in July 2015, in removing business difficulties and ensuring stable and continued growth of trade and investment.