Japan and Vietnam yesterday agreed to boost bilateral trade and uphold global rules on the free flow of goods as Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met Vietnamese leaders in Hanoi while both nations engage in talks with Washington to avoid tariffs.
Ishiba’s first trip to Vietnam, and his subsequent visit to the Philippines today, mark the latest high-level East Asian meetings amid escalating global uncertainty triggered by the threat of crippling US tariffs.
“The world economy is becoming more uncertain and the impact on the Southeast Asian region is also becoming apparent,” Ishiba told reporters yesterday after a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Vietnam this month has hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and top South Korean ministers, while Tokyo has held a trilateral meeting with China and South Korea.
The White House earlier this month slapped “bilateral tariffs” of 46 percent on Vietnam and 24 percent on Japan. Those duties were later paused until July as bilateral talks are underway, but a 10 percent levy applies on all imports into the US, which is a major market for both nations.
“We will cooperate to maintain a free and open international order based on the rule of law,” Ishiba said in a joint news conference with Chinh where journalists’ questions were not allowed.
Vietnam is a major assembling hub for Japanese manufacturers, including Honda, Canon and Panasonic, with a total of US$78 billion invested in the Southeast Asian nation by Japanese firms, Vietnamese Ministry of Finance data shows.
Japanese banks also hold strategic stakes in top Vietnamese lenders.
“The two countries agreed to uphold the global order of free trade based on international rules,” Chinh said, after the two leaders signed four cooperation agreements, including on boosting trade in energy transition products, and on research and development on semiconductors.
The contents of the agreements were not disclosed.
Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary To Lam urged Japan to increase its investment in infrastructure projects after he met Ishiba on Sunday, a Vietnamese government’s portal reported.
Japan has been involved in preliminary studies for the construction of a high-speed railway connecting Hanoi to the southern business hub of Ho Chi Minh City, which with an estimated cost of US$67 billion is Vietnam’s most ambitious infrastructure project.
The leaders did not explicitly mention railways among fields of cooperation. Vietnam has said it plans to finance the project largely on its own.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,