President of Japan's House of Councillors Yamazaki Masaaki began an official visit to Viet Nam from December 7.

The four-day visit is made at the invitation of Viet Nam’s National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung.

Viet Nam and Japan established diplomatic ties in 1973.

Japan is the largest official donor, the second-biggest foreign direct investor and the fourth-largest trading partner of Viet Nam.

President of Japan's House of Councillors Yamazaki Masaaki

The country accounted for nearly 30 percent of the 90 billion USD in total official development assistance granted to Viet Nam over the past 20 years.

Two-way trade exceeded 27.6 billion USD in 2014.

With about 85,000 Vietnamese living in Japan and 11,200 Japanese in Viet Nam, the people-to-people and cultural exchange between the two countries is at its best ever.

(Source: VNA)