Japan and Vietnam have agreed to tighten up the monitoring of labor conditions for Vietnamese as Tokyo opens the door to more foreign workers.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, affirmed during a meeting Monday they will maintain close cooperation in tackling problems such as unscrupulous brokers.

The government has stepped up efforts to eliminate the involvement of brokers who charge extortionate fees for processing visas and other services to facilitate workers' entry into Japan.

In other agreements, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and four Japanese private banks will extend joint financing worth $200 million (¥21.68 billion) to promote renewable energy in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese prime minister is visiting Japan as he was invited to the two-day Group of 20 summit through Saturday in Osaka, even though Vietnam is not a G20 member.