Vietnam and Japan signed an agreement on transfer of defense equipment and technology in HaNoi on Sunday. The signing ceremony of the deal was witnessed by Vietnamese Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang and Japanese Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo who is on his first foreign trip to Vietnam. During their talks before the aforesaid event, the two ministers reviewed the bilateral defense ties, compared notes on regional and international issues of shared concerns, including the importance of freedom of navigation and aviation in the face of complicated developments in the region, and shared the two armies’ experience in the fight against COVID-19.
The two ministers reaffirmed the importance of compliance with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. They agreed that the two ministries will actively work together to soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in military medicine and cybersecurity, strengthen the exchange of high-level delegations, maintain bilateral cooperation mechanisms like defense policy dialogues and consultations, and step up cooperation in personnel training, defense industry, settlement of war consequences and participation in the UN peacekeeping missions. The pair also agreed to coordinate closely in implementing cooperation programs in multilateral mechanisms, particularly the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the ASEAN Defense Ministerial Meeting Plus (ADMM+), as well as cybersecurity cooperation between ASEAN and Japan.
