PM to attend expanded G7 Summit in Japan

It will be the third time that Vietnam joins an expanded G7 Summit, and the second time to do so per an invitation from Japan.

Vietnam is one of two Southeast Asian countries invited to the Summit this year, the other being Indonesia, reported the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tuesday.

The expanded summit takes place May 20 and May 21 as part of the G7 Summit from May 19 to May 22 in Hiroshima.

The expanded summit is expected to discuss themes related to crisis resolution, climate, energy, the environment and economic development.

Vietnam and Japan will also commemorate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations this year.

Japan is Vietnam’s fourth largest commercial partner. Bilateral trade turnover between the two countries reached around $50 billion in 2022, an increase from $42.7 billion in 2021.

By March, Japan had over 5,000 active projects in Vietnam, with a total invested capital of around $70 billion, ranking it third among 143 countries and territories investing into Vietnam.

Japan is also the top Official Development Assistance (ODA) sponsor for Vietnam, with a total loan value of around $27.5 billion at end of the 2020 fiscal year.

There were over 476,000 Vietnamese living in Japan as of June 2022, according to statistics from Japan’s Ministry of Justice. Around 23,000 Japanese are living in Vietnam.