Ottawa (VNA) – General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam received representatives from the Canada–Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group at the Parliament of Canada on September 24 (local time) as part of his State visit to Canada.
Members of the Canada–Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group warmly welcomed Party General Secretary and President To Lam and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, expressing their honour and gratitude to him for taking the time to meet them during a visit of historic significance to bilateral relations.
The parliamentarians affirmed that all members of the group are friends of Vietnam who have deep affection for and a strong interest in relations between the two countries. They said the group currently has 25 members from both the Senate and the House of Commons, representing various provinces and territories across Canada, including MP Chi Nguyen, a Canadian of Vietnamese origin. The diverse participation of parliamentarians reflects growing interest within the Canadian Parliament in strengthening relations with Vietnam.
The parliamentarians spoke highly of the positive and substantive developments in bilateral relations over the past more than 50 years and warmly welcomed the recent elevation of Vietnam–Canada relations to a Strategic Partnership. They said the new framework would open up numerous opportunities for the two countries to deepen cooperation across various fields. The group affirmed that it would continue to serve as a bridge, contributing to greater mutual understanding, trust, and support for Vietnam–Canada relations within the Canadian Parliament and society.
The parliamentarians underscored the importance of strengthening economic and trade linkages between Canada and the region, and highly valued the role of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in expanding markets and promoting trade and investment for the common benefit of its members.
They also noted that both Vietnam and Canada are facing the need to diversify their markets and partners, expressing their desire for the two sides to enhance exchanges and share experience in diversifying economic relations, expanding partnerships, and exploring new opportunities for cooperation.
General Secretary and President To Lam conveyed the best regards and wishes from National Assembly President Tran Thanh Man to the Canadian parliamentarians, and expressed his appreciation for the valuable support provided by the Canadian Parliament and the Canada–Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group to Vietnam and the development of bilateral relations.
He announced that the newly elected Vietnamese National Assembly had established the Vietnam–Canada Parliamentary Friendship Group in June 2026, providing an additional foundation for strengthening regular connections and cooperation between parliamentarians of the two countries.
The top leader of Vietnam shared that through discussions with the Governor General, the Prime Minister, and leaders of the Canadian Parliament during his visit, the two sides had jointly assessed that bilateral relations still held considerable potential for development and had agreed to elevate their relations to a Strategic Partnership.
He expressed his confidence that the new framework would provide strong momentum for harnessing the complementary potential and strengths of the two countries. He highlighted parliamentary cooperation as an important pillar that would contribute to strengthening political trust, creating a legal foundation, and promoting the effective implementation of high-level agreements.
He suggested that the parliamentary friendship groups of the two countries increase delegation exchanges and contacts among parliamentarians, specialised committees, women parliamentarians, and young parliamentarians; promote joint activities and the sharing of experience in legislation and oversight; and further play their role in building broad consensus within the Canadian Parliament and society on strengthening relations with Vietnam.
He also called on the group to continue promoting economic, trade, and investment cooperation; make effective use of the CPTPP; facilitate access for goods and businesses of the two countries to each other’s markets; and encourage Canadian businesses to invest in sectors where Vietnam has demand and Canada has strengths.
At the same time, the two sides should make breakthroughs in science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, clean energy, and high-quality human resources training; expand cooperation in education, exchanges, and scholarships, particularly in strategic fields such as artificial intelligence and aerospace.
He expressed his hope that the Canadian Parliament and Government would continue creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to stabilise their lives, successfully integrate into Canadian society, and further play its role as a bridge between the two countries. He also called for facilitating travel, tourism, study, and business activities by citizens of the two countries.
Agreeing with the orientations put forward by General Secretary and President To Lam, the parliamentarians affirmed that they would continue making active contributions to the effective implementation of the Strategic Partnership, promoting parliamentary cooperation and collaboration in economy and trade, science and technology, education and training, and people-to-people exchanges.
They thanked the Vietnamese leader and gladly accepted his invitation to visit Vietnam, where they would have an opportunity to exchange views with the Vietnam–Canada Parliamentary Friendship Group on measures to further deepen parliamentary and people-to-people relations between the two countries./.
VNA
