Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh is paying an official visit to Canada from December 2-4 to further forge all-around cooperation with the country.

On December 2, the Deputy PM met Governor General David Johnston, Speakers of the Canadian Senate Noel Kinsella and House of Commons Andrew Scheer, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Chris Alexander, and Minister of State for Finance Kevin Sorenson.

At the meetings, the two sides discussed measures to further beef up their bilateral friendship and future cooperation in all realms, while sharing their views on a number of regional and international matters of mutual concern.

They expressed delight at the development of bilateral ties 40 years after establishing their diplomatic relations.

Deputy PM Ninh affirmed that Vietnam attaches much importance to developing a long-standing, sustainable and comprehensive strategic partnership with Canada .

He proposed the two sides enhance exchanges of delegations and step up cooperation in promising areas such as trade, agriculture, energy, oil and gas, science and technology, education and labour.

He voiced his desire to increase meetings between the two parliaments and people in order to further deepen mutual understanding and create a stronger friendship.

The Deputy PM proposed that the Canadian Government and parliament create more favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to better integrate into the society of the host country.

Vietnam supports Canada ’s efforts in strengthening relations with ASEAN member countries and those in the Asia-Pacific region, contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region, he said.

The Canadian side lauded Vietnam ’s success in socio-economic development and international integration, affirming Canada ’s interest to boost ties with Vietnam in its general policy for the Asia-Pacific region.

Canadian Governor General David Johnston said he is pleased with the outcomes of a number of technical support projects in Vietnam , which aimed to help Vietnam improve legislative officials’ capacity, raise the quality of agricultural products, and renovate the financial market, thus creating better living conditions for Vietnamese people.

The Canadian side also confirmed that the country is keen on forging cooperation with Vietnam through bilateral and multilateral cooperation frameworks such as APEC and the future Trans-Pacific Partnership in order to facilitate trade and investment ties in the coming years.

Speaker of the Canadian Senate Noel Kinsella emphasised the high cooperation potential the two sides have in human resources training and new energy technology.

The two sides agree to maintain dialogues to further mutual understanding in issues that they do not see eye to eye in.

During his stay in Ottawa , Deputy PM Ninh also met the staff of the Vietnamese Embassy before leaving for Toronto.-VNA