QUEBEC — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau reached consensus on measures to step up bilateral ties across fields during their talks in Quebec, Canada, on June 10 (local time).

The two Government leaders agreed to enhance cooperation in politics-diplomacy; trade, investment and development; national defence and security; education-training; employment; science-technology; culture and sports; and exchanges between citizens and localities of the two countries.

PM Phúc thanked PM Trudeau for inviting Việt Nam to attend the Group of Seven (G7) Outreach Summit and visit Canada, while applauding significant contributions of the host nation to the G7 events.

The Vietnamese PM also expressed his gratitude to the Government and people of Canada for their valuable support to Vietnamese people during the wartime as well as the present cause of national construction and development.

Việt Nam always wishes to advance the comprehensive partnership with Canada, he added.

PM Trudeau said Việt Nam is Canada’s important partners in the region. He praised Việt Nam’s role in the international arena as well as contributions made by PM Phúc and the Vietnamese delegation to the G7 Outreach Summit, especially Vietnam’s initiatives regarding cooperation in raising responding capacity for coastal communities, developing fisheries sustainability and protecting the marine environment.

The PM noted his deep impression of Việt Nam’s land and people, and appreciated the country’s warm welcome for him and the Canadian delegation during their visit to Việt Nam in November 2017.

Host and guest highlighted the developments in the friendship and cooperation between the two countries over the past time, with the most noteworthy being the establishment of the comprehensive partnership in November 2017 and the signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) agreement in March 2018.

They consented to continue their coordination in forging a result-oriented and effective comprehensive partnership in the context that the two countries are sharing many interests at both bilaterally, regionally and globally levels, for the interest of their people, and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in Asia-Pacific and the world at large.

The two leaders agreed to enhance high-level contact and all-level delegation exchanges, and promote relations via the party and parliament channels to increase mutual understanding and trust while enacting measures to facilitate trade and investment and coordinating to implement the CPTPP.

They concurred to boost cooperation in medical military training, war consequence settlement, anti-terrorism, cyber security, and the United Nations peacekeeping operations. They also agreed to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese students to study in Canada, with the Canadian side to establish an educational representative office in Việt Nam.

The two sides will step up collaboration in climate change adaptation, clean energy and high technology development, farm produce processing, innovation, and in helping the Vietnamese community in Canada to make more contributions to the development of Việt Nam-Canada rapports.

They agreed to coordinate in organising activities to mark the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties (1973-2018), including a Việt Nam Culture Week in Canada.

The two PMs welcomed the signing of cooperation agreements in science-technology, education-training, and transport infrastructure during PM Phúc’s visit, saying that the agreements contributed to realising the bilateral comprehensive partnership.

They agreed to maintain and enhance their close coordination at regional and international forums such as the United Nations (UN), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, the Francophone Community, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

They highlighted the central role of ASEAN in the regional architecture and expressed support for the efforts of building a law-abiding, strong and prosperous ASEAN Community, and welcomed ASEAN initiatives to maintain peace, security and stability in the region.

PM Phúc said he advocated the development of relations between ASEAN and Canada and welcomed Canada to boost connectivity with the Asian-Pacific region.

Exchanging viewpoints on regional and global issues of mutual concerns, the two PMs agreed on the necessity to ensure security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, and voiced support of the settlement of disputes in the waters via peaceful means with full respect for diplomatic and legal procedures without use or threat to use force, and with respect for international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the East Sea, towards the early conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), while promoting the use of the ocean for peaceful purposes and marine environmental protection.

The same day, PM Phúc and the high-level Vietnamese delegation left Canada for Việt Nam, concluding their attendance in the G7 Outreach Summit and visit to Canada. — VNS