Japanese Crown Prince begins 'bridge-building' visit to Vietnam
Joanna McCarthy
Last Updated:
Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito has begun a week-long visit to Vietnam, marking 35 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties.
The prince, who is making his first visit to the communist nation, will hold talks in Hanoi before touring the cities of Hue and Ho Chi Minh City, and the Mekong River.
Japan has traditionally been Vietnam's largest source of foreign aid, but payments were suspended by Tokyo late last year after the Tokyo-based firm Pacific Consultants International was caught bribing a senior Vietnamese official to secure contracts for road projects backed by Japanese aid money.
Leading Asian affairs analyst Jeff Kingston, at Temple University in Japan, says Japan's decision to suspend all aid to Vietnam was unusual, but unavoidable given that a Japanese consulting firm was also discovered to be involved in the scandal.
"It does signal that the government does take this very seriously," he said.
"This company has had problems in the past so I think the government was not only sending a message to Vietnam, but was also sending a message to the consultants that play a key role in Japanese aid programs."
He says this week's talks between Prince Naruhito and senior Vietnamese officials is a valuable opportunity to rebuild diplomatic bridges.
"It's goodwill and diplomacy primarily; they exchange pleasantries and smiles, they show the flag. Nobody has high expectations," he said.
Radio Australia reporter Joanna McCarthy says there are already signs that Japan is willing to soften its stance, with special ambassador Sugi Ryotaro saying aid could be resumed by April.
Mekong Economics chief economist Adam McCarty, who is based in Hanoi, says Japan stands to gain considerably from restoring firm working relations with Vietnam, with bilateral trade between the two countries last year exceeding $US16 billion.
In addition, direct Japanese investment in Vietnam exceeded $US17 billion.
"A lot of Japan's overseas development aid is allied with commercial interests, to help build highways, and then their factories get placed along those highways," Mr McCarty said.
"They also look to other areas such as mining, where they have particular interests, and will link their aid to commercial interests.
"It's all fairly transparent, really; the question is whether your official development assistance program should really be focused on the poor or have other objectives tied in with it."
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