On June 25, the first national Vietnamese language exam was held in Japan, with the attendance of nearly 400 Japanese students of varying ages. According to education insiders, the test reflects Vietnam's increasingly important role in the region.

Education insiders said the test reflects Vietnam’s rising importance in the region.The test, which reportedly took two years to prepare, was held in Tokyo, Vietnam News Agency reported. Test takers seen at the venue were from different ages, many of them in middle ages.
A source from the Japan College of Foreign Languages said more Japanese people are also choosing to study in Vietnam, so learning the language is important. More Japanese students are expected to travel to study in Vietnam over the next three years, so similar tests are being scheduled.
Pham Quang Hung, first secretary in charge of education affairs at the Vietnamese Embassy in Tokyo, told Vietnam News Agency that ties between Vietnam and Japan are growing, particularly through investments made by Japanese enterprises. Demand to learn Vietnamese in Japan is rising, Hung said. Japan is Vietnam’s largest source of official development assistance, its second largest foreign investor and fourth largest trade partner.
At the end of 2016, Japan had more than 3,200 investment projects in Vietnam with total registered capital of more than $42 billion, according to official data. Japan is also Vietnam's third largest source of tourists, with arrivals in the first five months growing 7 percent from a year ago to more than 323,000, according to the the General Statistics Office.