INTERNATIONAL: Japanese–Vietnamese relations are over a millennium old and both countries have agreed on Wednesday to strengthen their security cooperation and help boost their economies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh during his visit to Tokyo. The two leaders have pledged to work together for a "free and open Indo-Pacific" region, amid growing concerns over China's territorial assertiveness.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says that Japan will cooperate with Vietnam on its digital transformation, technological innovation and diversification of Japanese firms' supply chain. He commits to strengthen Japan and Vietnam's economic cooperation for a post-COVID-19 recovery. Kishida has also announced that Japan has donated an additional 1.54 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam and transported on Chinh's flight back to his country on Thursday.

While the Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has agreed to continue top level talks to strengthen political trust, substantial cooperation on security, national defence, diplomacy, and to cooperate on Taiwan.The Vietnamese premier is hopeful on having a long-term partnership and take the relationship with Japan to another level.

 Wednesday's meeting was the first in-person meeting with a top leader for Kishida after becoming Japan's prime minister last month.

^{PHOTO: JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER, FUMIO KISHIDA, AND VIETNAMESE PRIME MINISTER, PHAM MINH CHINH, HOLDING JOINT NEWS CONFERENCE AND BILATERAL MEETING, HONOUR GUARD CEREMONY}