Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet’s visit to Japan is a historic event, showing the fine development of the friendship and cooperative ties between the two countries, said Japanese media on November 26.

“Japan Times” spent half a page to run photo and biography of President Triet with welcome notes from big Japanese corporations and a speech delivered by Vietnamese Ambassador in Japan, Chu Tuan Cap.

The relationship between Viet Nam and Japan has entered a new stage of development, the paper said.

It added that the current visit made by the Vietnamese head of state also reflects determination of the two countries’ leaders to build a strategic partnership for the peace and prosperity in Asia; to encourage Japanese businesses to invest in Viet Nam; to speed up the implementation of major economic projects and promote cultural and educational exchanges, “Japan Times” went on to say.

During a visit to Japan by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in 2006, the two sides signed a joint statement “Toward a Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia,” the paper noted.

In 2006, two-way trade volume between Viet Nam and Japan reached 10 billion USD, and the two sides set a target to raise the figure to 15 billion USD by 2015, it said.

Meanwhile, the French news agency (AFP) cited sources from the Japanese Foreign Ministry as saying that the Japanese government welcomed the visit as it will make an important contribution to strengthening the friendship between the two countries. (VNA)