The Governor General of Canada, David Johnston will pay a state-levelvisit to Vietnam from Nov. 16-19 at the invitation of President TruongTan Sang.
During the first-ever visit by a Canadian Governor General since thetwo countries set up diplomatic ties in 1973, the two sides will discussways to strengthen bilateral ties in all fields, especially politics,economics, trade, investment, education, labour and culture.
The visit will also represent Canada’s esteem of relations withVietnam and its wish to enhance the friendship and cooperation withAsia-Pacific countries, including Vietnam.
Vietnam andCanada have enjoyed fine cooperation at international political andeconomic forums such as the United Nations, Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN), World Trade Organisation (WTO), ASEAN RegionalForum (ARF), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and G20, aswell as through the Francophone community.
The twocountries have conducted a number of mutual visits. In 2008, on theoccasion of the 35 th anniversary of diplomatic ties (August 21,1973-2008), the two countries organised a series of significantactivities.
The two sides have regularly engaged inexchanges and active coordination at international and regional forumsand the relationship between the two parliaments has been intensified inrecent years.
Two-way trade between Vietnam andCanada has increased from 121 million USD in 1998 to 1.4 billion USD in2010. The figure exceeded 960 million USD in the first nine months ofthis year, a year-on-year rise of 18 percent.
Vietnamnow ranks 67 th among more than 100 trade partners of Canada. Vietnammainly exports garment, footwear, agricultural products, seafood, woodand wooden products, bags, umbrellas, computers, electronic products andcomponents, cashew nuts, handicrafts, bikes and ceramics to Canadawhile importing machinery, equipment, iron and steel, fertiliser, animalfeed, auto and garment materials from this North Amercian market.
Canadian investment in Vietnam has increased from 37 projectscapitalised at 228 million USD in 2006 to 110 projects worth 4.63billion USD by August 2011, ranking 13 th among countries andterritories investing in Vietnam.
Several largeCanadian companies, including Manulife, VinaCapital and Bombardier, havebeen present in Vietnam and now want to invest more in the SoutheastAsian market.
Since 1992, the two countries havesigned 32 international treaties which aim to strengthen bilateral tiesin such fields as economics, trade, double taxation avoidance, aviation,administrative reform, education, adoption cooperation and a bilateralagreement on Vietnam’s WTO accession.
The two sideshave conducted eight rounds of negotiations on an investmentencouragement and protection agreement, expected to conclude in thefirst half of 2012.
Canada highly values Vietnam’sstrategy on growth and poverty reduction. While reducing its world aid,Canada has maintained ODA provision for Vietnam, focusing on Statemanagement, legal reform, small and medium-sized enterprise development,vocational training, food security, agricultural production andtraining for farmers.
Since the world is facingimpacts from climate change, the two countries agreed to choose climatechange as an area of priority in future bilateral ties.
In addition, the two countries have sped up cooperation in otherfields, including education and training, labour, science andtechnology, and tourism. In 2008, Vietnam officially entered theCanadian labour market by sending 28 workers to British Colombiaprovince.
At present, around 250,000 Vietnamese peopleare living in Canada. The position of the Vietnamese community inCanadian society has been increasing with many well-known scientists andprofessors in the fields of electronics, telecommunications, atomicenergy, chemistry and law./.