The ties between Vietnam and Canada have seen development in many fields over the recent past towards a comprehensive, stable and long-term partnership, Vietnamese Ambassador to Canada To Anh Dung said on the occasion of the 40 th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Canada hosted a ceremony to mark the anniversary in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa on November 5, which saw the attendance of Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Deepak Obhrai and former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, several representatives from the Canada-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Group and government officials.

Ambassador Dung said it is now a favourable time to further boost the bilateral ties as Canada adopts the policy of expanding its cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries while Vietnam is also making efforts to integrate into the region and the world.

The Vietnamese diplomat hailed Canada ’s positive contribution to the development of Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region at large, and thanked Canada for its help to Vietnam ’s national construction.

Deepak Obhrai underlined the bilateral ties’ development which was marked by State-level visits and meetings between the two sides’ leaders, notably the first Vietnam visit of the Canadian Governor-General in November 2011.

He noted that two-way trade turnover reached nearly 2 billion USD last year and expressed his hope of seeing stronger development of Vietnam .

On the occasion, the Vietnam-Canada ties and Vietnamese culture were introduced through photos and video clips. Internationally r enowned pianist Dang Thai Son gave a performance.-VNA