The agreement - signed in Tokyo by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang - promotes expanded co-operation between the armed forces of the two countries in areas such as "human resource development, capacity building and visits of military ships".
It also supports a memorandum of understanding signed by Japan and Vietnam in October 2011 that facilitated the creation of a bilateral defence and security forum, mutual ministerial visits, and exchanges between Japan's Self-Defence Forces and the Vietnamese military.