Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son on June 14 held phone talks with his Canadian counterpart Marc Garneau, during which he said Vietnam highly values Canada’s efforts in enhancing its relations with ASEAN and Vietnam.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son (Photo: VNA)Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui
Thanh Son on June 14 held phone talks with his Canadian counterpart Marc Garneau, during which he said Vietnam highly values Canada’s
efforts in enhancing its relations with ASEAN and Vietnam.
Son congratulated Canada on its successes in containing COVID-19, and thanked the country for its support to Vietnam in dealing
with the consequences of natural disasters in the central region and fighting the pandemic,
especially in access to COVID-19 vaccines.
For his part, Garneau said Canada attaches importance
to the bilateral ties, and wants to deepen the Canada-Vietnam comprehensive partnership.
He also applauded Vietnam’s efforts in controlling COVID-19, as well as the close coordination between the two countries in the fight against the pandemic over the past time.
The minister reiterated Canada’s commitment to help
Vietnam and other countries in the region to secure COVID-19 vaccines via the
Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, the COVAX Facility, and the
ASEAN COVID-19 Response Fund.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son on June 14 held phone talks with his Canadian counterpart Marc Garneau. (Photo: VNA)The two ministers highly evaluated the fruitful development of Vietnam-Canada relations in many fields, especially since the two countries elevated the bilateral relations to the comprehensive partnership in 2017.
Despite adverse impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, two-way trade still reached 5 billion USD in 2020, up 31 percent before the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) took effect.
Towards the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties (1973-2023), the
two ministers agreed to take concrete measures to promote relations as directed by
the two Prime Ministers during their phone talks on May 19, 2021, including the exchange
of delegations at all levels and the regular maintenance of cooperation
mechanisms between the two foreign ministries.
The two sides agreed to expand collaboration in many fields, especially in fighting the
COVID-19 pandemic and supporting Vietnam's access to COVID-19 vaccines.
Vietnam and
Canada will strive to raise two-way trade to 8 billion USD in the next
two
years and encourage their businesses to take advantage of opportunities
brought
by the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific
Partnership, while strengthening cooperation in education,
finance, digital
economy, innovation, sustainable development, clean energy, response to
climate
change and cooperation between localities.
The two
ministers also discussed the international and regional
situation, including the East Sea issue, affirming the significance of
observing international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law
of the Sea
(UNCLOS). They also agreed to continue working together closely at
regional and
international multilateral forums such as the United Nations, the
Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) and the International Organization of the Francophonie./.