Japan and Vietnam are set to agree to boost their partnership in economic security in leaders’ talks on Saturday, as Japan seeks to strengthen supply chains for critical resources amid its diplomatic spat with China and the Middle East crisis.

As Tokyo looks to deepen ties with Southeast Asian nations with an eye to China’s increasing economic engagement with the region, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will also give a speech on Japan’s updated vision for its free and open Indo-Pacific policy platform during her visit to Hanoi through Sunday.

An outcome document to promote cooperative ties in fields such as energy and artificial intelligence is expected to be released following Takaichi’s summit talks with Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung, officials have said.

Resource-poor Japan has been seeking to diversify its supply chains in the wake of the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the US-Israeli war against Iran and China’s export controls on some rare earth elements.

On national security, Tokyo has sought to up ties with Asean members, including Vietnam, as China intensifies its military activities in the resource-rich South China Sea, home to one of the world’s busiest maritime sea lanes.

In Tokyo in December, Japan and Vietnam held their first two-plus-two meeting of their vice foreign and defence ministers. Japan is also inclined to include Vietnam in its Official Security Assistance framework launched in 2023 to provide defence equipment to like-minded countries.