Vietnam, Japan Seek New Strides in Defence Cooperation

Vietnam and Japan are seeking new strides in defense cooperation, agreeing to strengthen collaboration in areas including education, healthcare, and the fight against counterfeit goods and intellectual property infringements. Under a new arrangement, Aoyama School has authorized the Vietnam-Japan Cultural Exchange Center (VJCE) to act as its representative in Vietnam. VJCE will coordinate educational cooperation activities, connect partners, develop training programs, and promote educational exchange projects between the two countries. In the medical field, Vietnam's 108 Military Central Hospital and Japan's Toho University Graduate School of Medicine will continue to promote faculty and student exchange programs, joint scientific research, academic conferences, scholarly information sharing, and the exchange of advanced medical knowledge and technologies. Both sides also agreed to advance cooperation under signed agreements, strengthen information exchange, enhance enforcement capacity, and develop new initiatives to improve the fight against counterfeit goods and intellectual property infringements in the coming years. Party General Secretary and President To Lam stressed the importance of candidly addressing existing shortcomings, noting that Vietnam's challenge is no longer a shortage of workers but a shortage of workers whose skills meet development requirements. This highlights the critical need for investment in human capital for sustained economic growth. These strengthened cooperative efforts are seen as a crucial step towards realizing Vietnam's vision of "enabling the country's heartbeat to resonate with that of the world, breathe in step with the spirit of the times, contribute to peace shaping, foster prosperity, and build a stronger and higher international standing for the country and nation." Specifically, the deepening defense cooperation with Japan is expected to contribute to regional security and stability.