Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dang Hoang Giang had a meeting with visiting Canadian Deputy Minister of International Trade Glenn Purves in Hanoi on September 10.
Deputy FM Giang spoke highly of the significance of Deputy Minister Purves’ visit in strengthening and further deepening the Vietnam - Canada Comprehensive Partnership. He proposed that the two sides continue to work closely the elevation of bilateral ties as desired by the leaders of the two countries and promote cooperation in priority areas, including politics and diplomacy, economy, trade, investment, energy, transport, science and technology, education and training, and people-to-people exchanges.
He affirmed that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) considers Canada an important partner and that Vietnam supports efforts to promptly conclude negotiations on the ASEAN - Canada Free Trade Agreement (ACAFTA), which will provide important momentum for Canada to promote comprehensive, mutually beneficial and long-term engagement with the region.
For his part, Purves reaffirmed that Canada regards Vietnam as an important partner in ASEAN and the wider Indo-Pacific region. He agreed to continue close coordination to promote high-level visits between the two countries and bring Canada-Vietnam relations to a new height, prioritising areas where the two sides have strengths and complementary needs, including economy, trade, investment, green and clean energy, nuclear energy, science and technology, financial technology, and high-quality human resource training.
He added that Canada wishes to step up cooperation with Vietnam in innovation, research and development (R&D), and manufacturing, contributing to the goal of strengthening bilateral trade and investment ties.
Regarding multilateral cooperation, the Canadian official spoke highly of Vietnam’s role as Chair of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and expressed Canada’s readiness to work with Vietnam to promote linkages between the CPTPP and partners outside the agreement./.
