Japan PM arrives in Hanoi

The visit comes five months after Kishida became PM. He is also the secretary general of the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Union.

Vietnam and Japan, who established diplomatic ties in 1973, have an extensive strategic partnership since 2014.

Japan is Vietnam’s biggest official development assistance provider, the third biggest inbound tourism market and the fourth largest trade partner.

Bilateral trade last year was worth US$42.7 billion, and Japan has invested $64.4 billion in Vietnam, third behind only South Korea and Singapore.

Vietnamese is the biggest foreign group in Japan with over 450,000 people living in 47 localities, mostly in Aichi, Tokyo, Osaka, Saitama, Chiba and Fukuoka.

Over 51,000 Vietnamese students are studying in. Japan, the second biggest student group there.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited Japan in November last year and was the first foreign leader that Kishida welcomed after taking office.