President Nguyen Minh Triet on February 11 received the Vietnam-Japan Special Friendship Ambassador Sugi Ryotaro who is in

He said the ambassador’s goodwill activities in Vietnam have helped provide physical and spiritual assistance to the poor and those living in difficulties across the country.

The president noted with satisfaction the strong development of bilateral cooperation which he said has brought practical benefits to both sides.

He confirmed that Vietnam will bring to court those involved in a graft scandal at Pacific Consultants International (PCI) that later prompted Japan to stop providing official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam.

Last year, several Japanese PCI executives allegedly bribed Vietnamese officials to win an ODA contract for the East-West Highway in Ho Chi Minh City.

The president assured his guest that similar scandals will not happen again in future to affect the good relationship between the two countries. He commended Mr Ryotaro’s role in lobbying the Japanese Government and parliament (the Diet) to resume ODA to Vietnam.

For his part, ambassador Ryotaro expressed regret over the suspension of ODA and expressed his wish that the two countries would work closely together to deal with the case. He also affirmed that he will try his utmost to lobby the Japanese leadership to resume aid to Vietnam at the earliest possible time.

VietNamNet/VOV