The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee hosted a meeting on July 2 to mark the 40 th anniversary of Vietnam-Canada diplomatic ties and the 146th Canada Day.
Addressing the celebration, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Hua Ngoc Thuan stressed that over the past 40 years, the long-lasting, stable and comprehensive partnership between the two countries has been consolidated and developed.
The two sides have maintained all-level delegation exchanges, he added.
According to Thuan, in 2012, bilateral trade surpassed 1.6 billion USD, nine times higher than 2011. Early this year, the two sides agreed to boost all-around cooperation, particularly in trade, investment, science-technology, education and training, and agreed to collaborate at multilateral forums.
Trade between HCM City and Canada reached more than 265 million USD in 2012, Thuan said, adding that Canada has 50 projects worth 91.5 million USD in the city.
Agriculture, health and education are also important content in the cooperation between the two sides.
The Vice Chairman said that HCM City wants to strengthen multifaceted cooperation with Canada, with priorities to be given to trade, investment, education and training, cultural exchange and science and technology.
He also pledged that the municipal authorities will create favourable conditions for Canadian investors to invest and do business in the city.
Canadian Consul General to HCM City Audri Mukhopadhyay said the good relations between the two countries are reflected in the development of trade, economic, education and training cooperation.
There are more than 3,000 Vietnamese students in Canada. Education cooperation programmes between the two countries have developed in HCM City, he added.-VNA
