HANOI, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese State President Nguyen Minh Triet told a visiting Japanese minister on Friday that the two countries should strengthen exchange of high-ranking delegations, and rapidly implement major infrastructure projects in Vietnam, Vietnam News Agency reported.

    While meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, the Vietnamese president proposed that the two governments jointly facilitate the implementation of three projects on developing a North-South expressway, a North-South railway and the Hoa Lac hi-tech park in Hanoi, and that the Japanese side actively participates in urban railway projects in the capital and southern Ho Chi Minh City.

    Triet also said Vietnam wants the Japanese government to continue to assist his country in education and training.

    For his part, the Japanese foreign minister said besides exchanges of high-ranking delegations, exchanges among ministries, sectors, localities and social organizations of the two countries help reinforce and develop the bilateral ties in various fields, including politics, economy and culture. Japan will keep on assisting Vietnam through projects using official development assistance, he said.

    On Friday, Komura and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan signed a note on a human resource scholarship project, under which the Japanese government will sponsor promising Vietnamese students to study in Japan.

    On the same day, the Japanese minister and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem co-chaired the second meeting of the Vietnam-Japan Cooperation Committee, at which the two sides said they want to conclude the negotiation on Vietnam-Japan economic partnership agreement at an early date.