Yoshihide Suga gives his first press conference in Tokyo as the new prime minister of Japan, after the 71-year-old former chief cabinet secretary won an easy victory in a parliamentary vote on Wednesday. — AFP/VNA Photo

HÀ NỘI — Party General Secretary and President Nguyễn Phú Trọng, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and other Vietnamese leaders on Wednesday extended congratulations to Suga Yoshihide as he was officially named the new Prime Minister of Japan following a vote in the country’s parliament the same day.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Phạm Bình Minh also congratulated Motegi Toshimitsu for being re-elected as Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe resigned on August 28.

"Việt Nam congratulates Suga Yoshihide for his election as the new Prime Minister of Japan," spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry Lê Thị Thu Hằng said in a statement in response to queries from the press on the same day.

Việt Nam treasures the friendship with Japan and hopes for close cooperation with the country’s new PM and government to lift the Việt Nam-Japan extensive strategic partnership to a new height, she affirmed.

Việt Nam and Japan have been important partners of each other since the establishment of diplomatic ties on September 21, 1973. — VNS