At the event, both sides affirmed that the cooperative relationship between Vietnam and Japan has never been as good as it is now. That relationship is not only in politics, economy, culture, but also especially in cooperation on labour, employment and social security.

Thanking Minister Dao Ngoc Dung for taking the time to welcome him, Ambassador Ito Naoki expressed his deepest condolences to the Party, State and People of Vietnam on the passing of the late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

Ambassador Ito Naoki shared that Japanese enterprises in Vietnam consider Vietnam to be a country with great potential for economic development, especially the potential for developing high-quality human resources.

He said that currently, there are about 570,000 Vietnamese people living and working in Japan. Vietnam now leads among 15 countries sending trainees and workers to Japan.

The Japanese Ambassador added that the Japanese Government has recently approved a new program to replace the old technical intern program.

Accordingly, the new program will prioritize protecting the rights of foreigners working in Japan, creating opportunities for workers to work longer in Japan, thereby helping to improve the serious labour shortage due to the aging population in this country.

In addition, Ambassador Ito Naoki hopes that MoLISA leaders will continue to pay attention and create conditions to accelerate the progress of the project "Supporting job information connection for Vietnamese workers working abroad under contracts", which is being implemented by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Vietnam and the Department of Overseas Labour Management.

The Japanese Ambassador hopes that Vietnam will increase the number of nursing candidates to Japan. Japan also hopes that the two countries will soon start negotiating a bilateral social insurance agreement between both sides.

Speaking at the reception, Minister Dao Ngoc Dung congratulated Ambassador Ito Naoki on being appointed by the Japanese Government as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Vietnam.

Minister Dao Ngoc Dung also thanked the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam for its proactive and active cooperation with MoLISA in promoting relations between the two countries in the fields of labor, employment, and social security.

Minister Dao Ngoc Dung agreed with the Ambassador's opinion on the need to accelerate the progress of the Project to the finish line as soon as possible to provide workers with complete and accurate market information, reducing costs for workers.

The Minister also mentioned that the two sides have coordinated well to implement the specific skills assessment exam in the nursing and agricultural sectors in April, moving towards organizing assessment exams in the accommodation and hotel sectors.

Regarding the Social Insurance Agreement with Japan, Minister Dao Ngoc Dung suggested that both sides speed up the process to get the Agreement signed and put into effect./.