PM lauds Canadian ambassador’s contributions to growth of bilateral ties

Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on March 10 held a reception for outgoing Canadian Ambassador Deborah Paul, during which he lauded the diplomat's contributions to the comprehensive partnership between the two countries.

The PM noted that in 2021, trade between Vietnam and Canada topped 6 billion USD, up 19 percent year on year.

He thanked the Government and people of Canada for providing Vietnam with COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX Facility, helping Vietnam safely and flexibly adapt to and effectively control the pandemic, thus confidently opening its doors and boosting socio-economic recovery and development.

PM Chinh proposed that both sides continue to promote their partnership, especially in economy, trade and investment, response to the pandemic and climate change, green and sustainable growth promotion and human resources training.

He asked Canada to continue facilitating the import of Vietnamese products, especially farm produce, seasonal fruits, cashew nuts and coffee. He also expressed hope that Canada will continue creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in the country, and create conditions for Vietnamese students to return to Canada.

For her part, Ambassador Paul thanked the Vietnamese Government for taking effective measures to support foreigners in Vietnam amid the pandemic, including giving them COVID-19 vaccine shots. She said that Vietnam's success in rolling out vaccination to reach a high coverage is a good example for other countries to learn from.

She spoke highly of Vietnam’s meaningful and important commitments at the COP26, affirming that the Canadian Government will continue to assist Vietnam in many areas such as pandemic and climate change response, farm produce exporting, and poverty reduction. Canada will also continue to support the Vietnamese community and students in Canada.

The diplomat thanked Vietnam for supporting Canada during the negotiations for the Canada-ASEAN free trade agreement and the promotion of relations between Canada and the association.

Both sides agreed to continue to work closely together to contribute to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world./.