Canadian Ambassador to Việt Nam Shawn Perry Steil. — VNS Photo Trọng Kiên

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam and Canada have witnessed “quantum leaps” in bilateral ties over the past five decades, Canadian Ambassador to Việt Nam Shawn Perry Steil told local media on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties (1973-2023).

Apart from the establishment of the diplomatic relations in 1973, the opening of the Canadian and Vietnamese embassies in respective countries and the formation of the comprehensive partnership on the occasion of the official visit to Việt Nam by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in November 2017 are major milestones in the relationship, which challenge both countries to boost their cooperation even further, according to the ambassador.

Steil said that the early days of cooperation focused on development assistance, mainly poverty reduction. Since Việt Nam’s economy started to grow, Canada has provided support to its small and women-led businesses.

Such efforts paid off as Việt Nam has become Canada’s largest trade partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), he said, emphasising the “thriving partnership” and “extremely gratifying” trade between the two countries.

The ambassador also mentioned the establishment of the Canada-Việt Nam Joint Economic Committee (JEC) on January 10, 2022, a mechanism that provides an opportunity to discuss current and emerging trade issues.

Since the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), to which both Việt Nam and Canada are signatories, came into force in 2018, Việt Nam’s exports to Canada have grown rapidly, he said, adding that Vietnamese products like seafood, fruits, furniture, shoes, clothing and electronics are finding an enormous market in Canada.

The diplomat called people-to-people exchange the foundation of the bilateral relationship, which has helped facilitate trade and education cooperation between the two countries.

Given that Việt Nam is working hard to raise living standards for everyone, Canada is also working with the Vietnamese Government and community-based organisations to ensure that all people fully benefit from the rapid economic growth and that social inclusion forms part of the Southeast Asian nation’s development, he continued.

Notably, Canada has supported Việt Nam in clean transition and environmental protection, providing the country with technical assistance and policy consultation to reduce plastic waste.

Canada is a member of the Just Energy Transition Partnership and through that partnership, it is elevating assistance to support Việt Nam in not only increasing renewable energy production, but also looking at increasing the capacity to store energy, which is important for renewables, and to improve transmission, he said.

“We're particularly excited about supporting carbon pricing in Việt Nam. The Vietnamese Government has a plan to pilot carbon pricing by 2025 and have a national carbon market by 2028. Canada is one of Việt Nam’s closest partners in supporting options to pursue this goal,” the diplomat added.

“I believe that the next quantum leap for Việt Nam and Canada will be a partnership for the benefit of the world. How can we carry forward this strong partnership and understanding that we've developed to contribute to the rules-based international order and respect for international law? How can we work together to foster more peace and stability in ASEAN and Indo Pacific and beyond?”

Lauding Việt Nam’s increasing role in the region and the world at large partially thanks to its bustling economic growth, as well as its “remarkable” international integration, the ambassador noted that Việt Nam has been a critical partner and supporter to help Canada achieve a strategic partnership with ASEAN.

The Government and the people have increasing confidence in playing a role on the world stage, he said.

“ASEAN is a recently important organisation, a great example of consensus building, multilateralism and Vietnamese diplomacy with a great history of fine diplomats is playing a really critical role, bringing consensus for that group. So we looked to Việt Nam playing an increasing role,” the diplomat noted.

“Going broader, I think Việt Nam can play a leadership role even beyond that. And with a partner like Canada, there's no limit to that,” he stated.

Indo-Pacific Strategy

With questions regarding the role of Việt Nam in Canada Indo-Pacific Strategy, Steil noted that there are three major players to Canada in ASEAN which are Việt Nam, Indonesia, and the Philippines, given the huge amount of Canada’s investment in these countries, along with strong political relations and trade ties.

The Canadian diplomat described the priorities in the strategy with five P words.

The first is Partnership – Canada is committed to being here more strongly and Canada needs more partners, he said. A strategic partnership with ASEAN is important to that and Việt Nam has been a critical partner and supporter of achieving that strategic partnership.

The second is Peace, as part of peace, stability, and security, “We believe that a strong ASEAN is fundamental to securing a peaceful South China Sea or the East Sea and Việt Nam’s role in securing a rules-based approach to settlement of disputes in this region is also fundamentally important,” the Canadian diplomat said.

“Canada has long been invested in international law and we have a strong partnership with Việt Nam to share experience on how to best leverage international law to protect the peace and settle disputes,” Steil noted.

The third is Prosperity, finding ways to which trade and investment between countries could contribute to prosperity for everyone, not just big corporations, he noted.

The third is People, people-to-people exchanges, education, culture or academic exchanges, these are critical to supporting awareness and increasing opportunities between the two countries.

The fifth is Planet, the climate change and environmental concerns don't know of any borders, he noted.

“Việt Nam is particularly vulnerable, but it's also part of the solution worldwide by transitioning to clean energy. At this point of rapid economic growth. We believe it's a perfect opportunity, though it's never easy to invest more in global energy and catalysts that support that transition,” the ambassador concluded. — VNS