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General Secretary and President To Lam departs to attend the High-level General Debate of the UNGA81 in the U.S. and pay a state visit to Canada. |
The visit is of historic significance to the bilateral relations, marking the first-ever visit to Canada by a General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam. At the same time, General Secretary and President To Lam is the first state guest of the year hosted by the Governor General of Canada. The visit therefore demonstrates the high importance that both Viet Nam and Canada attach to their bilateral relationship.
More than 50 years after establishing diplomatic relations, on the basis of respect for the U.N. Charter, the fundamental principles of international law and the laws of each country, Viet Nam and Canada have worked together to strengthen their comprehensive, substantive, effective, stable and long-term cooperation and friendship in both bilateral and multilateral spheres. This cooperation serves the interests of both countries and contributes to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world. Building on increasingly positive multifaceted cooperation, the two countries established a comprehensive partnership framework in 2017.
More than half a century of diplomatic relations and nearly a decade of implementing the comprehensive partnership framework have laid an increasingly solid foundation for Viet Nam-Canada relations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders of the two countries maintained contacts through various forms, including telephone conversations and virtual meetings. Immediately after the pandemic was brought under control, in-person exchanges of delegations and meetings on the sidelines of multilateral forums resumed and have been maintained regularly since. The two sides have promoted high-level visits while stepping up discussions on further deepening their comprehensive partnership, with a view to elevating the bilateral relations.
As members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Viet Nam-Canada trade relations are considered a bright spot within the CPTPP framework. Viet Nam is currently one of Canada's leading trading partners in ASEAN, while Canada is Viet Nam's third-largest export partner in the Americas and its seventh-largest export market.
The two countries have placed strong emphasis on deepening cooperation in defense and security, education and training, justice, people-to-people exchanges, and local-level cooperation, achieving many positive results. Canada has also continued to maintain official development assistance (ODA) projects for Viet Nam. Since 1990, Canada's total ODA provision to Viet Nam has reached nearly 2 billion USD, focusing on poverty reduction, the protection of women and girls' rights, agricultural development, capacity building, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and food safety, among other areas.
At the same time, Viet Nam and Canada have closely coordinated and supported each other at regional and international multilateral forums, including the U.N., the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, the Francophonie and ASEAN.
Building on the positive bilateral relationship and the significant achievements made across various areas of cooperation, there is strong confidence that General Secretary and President To Lam's visit will provide a powerful political impetus, opening a new chapter and further advancing Viet Nam-Canada relations in a more substantive, balanced and effective manner, in line with the two countries' potential, strengths and needs.
Translated by Quynh Oanh