(Press Release)
October 28, 2026
Ministry of Defense
On October 28, 2026, Minister of Defense Koizumi, who was visiting the Philippines to attend the 13th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), held a Defense Ministers’ Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Giang of Vietnam. An overview of the meeting is as follows.
- At the outset, Minister Koizumi welcomed the opportunity to meet again with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Giang following his visit to Japan in July this year. Minister Koizumi also stated that, amid the increasingly severe regional and international situation, cooperation between Japan and Vietnam is becoming increasingly important, and emphasized the importance of further strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries through cooperation between their defense authorities. The two Ministers held substantive discussions on ways to further strengthen defense cooperation.
- Building on the discussions at the Defense Ministers’ Meeting in July this year, the two Ministers confirmed that they would continue to promote bilateral cooperation, including personnel exchanges such as the enrollment of Vietnamese students at the National Defense Academy of Japan and other institutions, as well as exchanges between their forces, including in the field of PKO.
- The two Ministers also confirmed that discussions were progressing in the director-level Working Group on defense equipment transfer toward defense equipment and technology cooperation, including the possibility of the joint development and production of high-speed landing craft. They concurred that, under their leadership, the two sides would continue discussions with a view torealizing such cooperation.