The former PM and the special ambassadors were honoured for their outstanding contributions to the capital’s construction and development, as well as to its enhanced friendship and international co-operation for peace, development and social advancement.
Addressing the ceremony, Chargé d'Affaires of the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan Nguyen Phuong Hong stressed their great contributions to promoting friendship between the two countries, particularly to enhancing people-to-people and cultural exchange between the two nations.
She expressed her hope that Murayama and Ryotaro would continue to make further contributions to developing the Vietnam-Japan friendship.
Vice Chairwoman of the Hanoi municipal People’s Council Vu Thi Hai valued the charity activities of the former PM and the special ambassador and their role in bringing Japanese culture closer to Vietnamese people.
Former PM Murayama expressed his gratitude for the recognition, and retold his memories of his official visit to Vietnam, generating close ties between the two countries. He affirmed that he would continue to make contributions to Hanoi’s development and expressed his hope that Hanoi and Vietnam would make breakthrough achievements in the future.
Murayama is the first Japanese PM to pay an official visit to Vietnam, opening a new development era in bilateral relations and paving the way for Japanese investors to the country. He is currently Chairman of the Japan-Vietnam Friendship and Peace Council, making great contributions to developing friendship between the two countries, including US$40,500 in aid to victims of Agent Orange, scholarships for disadvantaged ethnic students in Ba Vi district from 2005 to 2010, and practical progammes to promote Japanese culture in Vietnam.
Sugi Ryotaro often visits disadvantaged children when he comes to Hanoi annually with great material and spiritual support to them. He adopted 30 children and brought them to Japan for treatment and settlement. He has also helped provide training courses on technical treatment of heart disease for Vietnamese health workers at Okayama University, brought young Vietnamese doctors to Japan for training, presented used fire trucks to Hanoi and organised art performances celebraing the Japan-Vietnam diplomatic relations.
