Vietnam and Japan established diplomatic relations in 1973 and upgraded ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2023.
Japan is Vietnam’s largest provider of official development assistance and its biggest labour cooperation partner. It is also Vietnam’s third-largest foreign investor and the country’s fourth-largest trade and tourism partner.
Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae (Photo: Reuters).
Bilateral trade between Vietnam and Japan has maintained steady growth, reaching around USD 52 billion in 2025, nearly double the USD 27.4 billion recorded in 2014.
In 2025, total trade turnover between the two countries rose 11 per cent compared with the same period in 2024.
Vietnam’s main exports to Japan include seafood, garments, footwear, electrical and mechanical equipment, wood products and plastic goods.
Major imports from Japan include machinery, equipment, spare parts, electronic products and components, steel, automobile parts and chemicals.
As of January 31, Japan had 5,722 valid investment projects in Vietnam with total registered capital of USD 78.9 billion, ranking third among 153 countries and territories investing in Vietnam, after South Korea and Singapore.
Meanwhile, Vietnam had 132 investment projects in Japan with total registered capital of USD 47.2 million, accounting for 0.2 per cent of Vietnam’s cumulative overseas investment capital and ranking 33rd among 85 countries and territories receiving Vietnamese outbound investment.
Japanese investment in Vietnam is mainly concentrated in manufacturing and processing industries, accounting for 61 per cent, followed by electricity production and distribution at 15 per cent, and real estate at 12 per cent.
These projects are spread across 33 of Vietnam’s 34 provinces and cities, with the largest concentrations in Ho Chi Minh City, Thanh Hoa, Hanoi, Haiphong and Dong Nai.
Japan is also Vietnam’s largest lender in Japanese yen. By the end of fiscal year 2025, total yen-denominated loans reached around 2.55 trillion yen (more than USD 23 billion), accounting for over 26 per cent of the government’s total signed foreign loan commitments.
Japanese ODA for Vietnam focuses on promoting economic growth and international competitiveness, improving social development and narrowing regional gaps, environmental protection and climate change response, and strengthening public administration capacity.
The Vietnamese community in Japan now exceeds 680,000 people, making it the second-largest foreign community after Chinese nationals.
Vietnamese citizens live, work and study across all 47 prefectures of Japan, with more than 40 Vietnamese associations currently operating throughout the country.
