President Võ Văn Thưởng (left) shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for their meeting on the sidelines of APEC Economic Leaders' Week. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

SAN FRANCISCO — President Võ Văn Thưởng had a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in San Francisco, the US, on November 16 (local time), on the sideline of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week.

The two leaders spoke highly of the Việt Nam-Canada Comprehensive Partnership, which has enjoyed constant development over the past time, with two-way trade in 2022 topping US$7 billion, up nearly 17 per cent year-on-year.

Việt Nam is currently the largest trade partner of Canada in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), while Canada is the second largest trade partner of Việt Nam in the Americas.

People-to-people exchanges have been bolstered, they stressed, adding the Vietnamese community in Canada with 300,000 people have served as a bridge to promote the bilateral ties.

With a view to developing the Comprehensive Partnership in a more stable and practical fashion, President Thưởng suggested both sides maintain exchanges at all levels, step up cooperation between localities, and maintain existing dialogue mechanisms in the fields of politics-diplomacy, defence-security, and economy-trade.

He recommended PM Trudeau and the Canadian Government continue creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Canada, and support Việt Nam to better engage in the UN’s peacekeeping operations.

Việt Nam welcomes PM Trudeau’s visit in the coming time, he said.

PM Trudeau affirmed that Canada treasures the relations with Việt Nam, and expressed his impression of the country’s economic growth.

Amidst many challenges in the global situation, Canada will continue giving priority to developing its ties with Việt Nam, particularly in politics-diplomacy, economy-trade, education-training, security-defence, and people-to-people exchanges, he said.

The two leaders also discussed several regional and global issues of mutual concern, including the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea). They affirmed further collaboration with and support for each other at multilateral forums, including the UN and APEC, while upholding the role of international law. — VNS