Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son (Photo: VNA)Son congratulated Canada on its successes in containing COVID-19, and thanked the country for its support to Vietnam in dealingwith 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 importanceto 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 helpVietnam and other countries in the region to secure COVID-19 vaccines via theAccess to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, the COVAX Facility, and theASEAN 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)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), thetwo ministers agreed to take concrete measures to promote relations as directed bythe two Prime Ministers during their phone talks on May 19, 2021, including the exchangeof delegations at all levels and the regular maintenance of cooperationmechanisms between the two foreign ministries.
The two sides agreed to expand collaboration in many fields, especially in fighting theCOVID-19 pandemic and supporting Vietnam's access to COVID-19 vaccines.
Vietnam andCanada will strive to raise two-way trade to 8 billion USD in the nexttwoyears and encourage their businesses to take advantage of opportunitiesbroughtby the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-PacificPartnership, while strengthening cooperation in education,finance, digitaleconomy, innovation, sustainable development, clean energy, response toclimatechange and cooperation between localities.
The twoministers also discussed the international and regionalsituation, including the East Sea issue, affirming the significance ofobserving international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Lawof the Sea(UNCLOS). They also agreed to continue working together closely atregional andinternational multilateral forums such as the United Nations, theAsia-PacificEconomic Cooperation (APEC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) and the International Organization of the Francophonie./.
