On 28 November, eight senior officials of Vietnam's Ministry of Defence headed by Vice Minister Vinh visited IIPS, and exchanged opinions with President Sato and Research Counselor Tokuchi (Senior Research Fellows Kaji and Takayama, and Research Assistant Okubo were also present).

During the exchange of opinions, Research Counselor Tokuchi gave a brief summary of a report recently published by IIPS titled "Crisis Management at Sea: Urgent Proposals from the field by IIPS Study Group to follow up on The Yasuhiro Nakasone Proposal on Maritime Security in East Asia". Research Counselor Tokuchi is a member of the Study Group which created the report. Vice Minister Vinh expressed great interest in the Organization for Maritime Security in East Asia (OMSEA) and its realization. A vibrant exchange of opinions took place. Furthermore, we invited Vietnam to participate in a symposium regarding the said report planned to be held in Jakarta next February. Vice Minister Vinh responded favorably that there should be further occasions to exchange views with IIPS. The meeting proved to be a fruitful opportunity for IIPS and Vietnam's military research institutes to mutually deepen ties.