The Canadian Embassy in Hanoi held a ceremony on August 24 evening to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam-Canada diplomatic relations (1973 - 2023), featuring cultural performances and an exhibition showcasing Canadian products in Vietnam, VNA reported.

Vietnamese Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan congratulates the 50th anniversary of Vietnam-Canada diplomatic ties. Source: Canadian Embassy in Hanoi

At the ceremony, representing the Government of Vietnam, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan affirmed that Vietnam highly values its relationship with Canada and wants the ties to be further strengthened in a friendly, cooperative, stable, long-lasting, and mutually beneficial manner, contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

She said Vietnam welcomes Canada's increasing attention and positive contributions to the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions as well as recognition of ASEAN's centrality and Vietnam's role as a "bridge" and "gateway" in the region.

Since the Vietnam-Canada comprehensive partnership was established in November 2017, the bilateral relationship has gained new momentum for robust development, particularly in economic and trade, healthcare, education and training, defense cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges.

Their bilateral trade volume reached USD 7 billion in 2022. Currently, Canada is Vietnam's third-largest trading partner in the Americas region, while Vietnam is Canada's largest trading partner in ASEAN. There are over 30,000 overseas Vietnamese residing in Canada and more than 20,000 Vietnamese students studying in Canada.

Lan expressed her gratitude for Canada’s support for Vietnam so far and proposed that the Canadian Government and people continue to create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese expatriate community to integrate into the host society and actively contribute to the development of both nations and their friendly and traditional relationship.

Shawn Steil, Ambassador of Canada to Vietnam speaks at the event. Source: Canadian Embassy in Hanoi

For his part, Canadian Ambassador Shawn Steil emphasized that Canada had demonstrated its commitment to peace and prosperity in Vietnam from an early stage by playing a leading role in supporting the 1954 Geneva Agreement.

The diplomat stated that Canada recognizes Vietnam's significant diplomatic efforts to gain independence and global recognition. Many things have changed over the past five decades, but one thing that never changes is that Canada is proud to assist Vietnam on its path to becoming a more developed, peaceful, and prosperous nation.

He reaffirmed Canada's commitment to continue supporting Vietnam in its efforts to switch to clean energy, address climate change, and pursue sustainable economic growth. He said he believes that the reliable bilateral partnership not only brings greater prosperity to their people but also contributes to global peace and security.

“Rooted in strong people-to-people ties, we reaffirmed the strength and depth of the friendship between our two countries as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Canada - Vietnam diplomatic relations. We are committed to advancing shared interests and addressing common challenges collectively in a more effective way. We look forward to forging deeper links by building on this important partnership in the years to come,” said Ambassador Shawn Steil.

"Vietnam is leading the region, and maybe the world, in economic development. Countries are increasingly looking to Vietnam as a center of manufacturing excellence. Soon Vietnam will be not only manufacturing, it will be innovating and will be buying not just made-in-Vietnamese products, but products invented in Vietnam. So the future is very bright for Vietnam globally," he said.

Within ASEAN, he sees Vietnam as playing a key leadership role. "ASEAN is an increasingly important organization, a great example of consensus building, and multilateralism, and Vietnam's diplomacy, with its great history of fine diplomats, plays a critical role in bringing consensus to that group. Vietnam has the potential to play a leadership role even beyond the region. And with a partner like Canada, there is no limit to what Vietnam could do," the ambassador stated.

Looking towards the future, Canada considers Vietnam a key partner in a more secure, prosperous, comprehensive, and sustainable Indian Ocean-Pacific region, stressed the ambassador.

Canada’s export to Vietnam was valued at nearly USD 1 billion last year, and their two-way trade reached some USD 10 billion. Source: Canadian Embassy in Hanoi

Canada established diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1973, opening an Embassy in Hanoi in 1994 and a Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City in 1995.

A permanent presence of the Canada Border Services Agency was established in Vietnam last year, with a Network Manager in Hanoi and a Liaison Officer in Ho Chi Minh City, in an effort to strengthen border management capacity and support in the region.

At the celebration, the delegates of the two countries and the representatives of the diplomatic corps of other countries in Hanoi enjoyed cultural performances and caught a glimpse of some Canadian export consumer products in Vietnam.

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