Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính receives outgoing Canadian Ambassador to Việt Nam Deborah Paul on Thursday in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính on Thursday held a reception for outgoing Canadian Ambassador Deborah Paul, during which he lauded the diplomat's contributions to the comprehensive partnership between the two countries.

The PM noted that in 2021, trade between Việt Nam and Canada topped US$6 billion, up 19 per cent year on year.

He thanked the Government and people of Canada for providing Việt Nam with COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX Facility, helping Việt Nam safely and flexibly adapt to and effectively control the pandemic, thus confidently opening its doors and boosting socio-economic recovery and development.

PM Chính proposed that both sides continue to promote their partnership, especially in economy, trade and investment, response to the pandemic and climate change, green and sustainable growth promotion and human resources training.

He asked Canada to continue facilitating the import of Vietnamese products, especially farm produce, seasonal fruits, cashew nuts and coffee. He also expressed hope that Canada would continue creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in the country, and create conditions for Vietnamese students to return to Canada.

For her part, Ambassador Paul thanked the Vietnamese Government for taking effective measures to support foreigners in Việt Nam amid the pandemic, including giving them COVID-19 vaccine shots. She said that Việt Nam’s success in rolling out vaccination to reach a high coverage is a good example for other countries to learn from.

She spoke highly of Việt Nam’s meaningful and important commitments at the COP26, affirming that the Canadian Government would continue to assist Việt Nam in many areas such as pandemic and climate change response, farm produce exporting, and poverty reduction. Canada would also continue to support the Vietnamese community and students in Canada.

The diplomat thanked Việt Nam for supporting Canada during the negotiations for the Canada-ASEAN free trade agreement and the promotion of relations between Canada and the association.

Both sides agreed to continue to work closely together to contribute to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world. — VNS