Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hà Kim Ngọc (centre, left) and Canadian counterpart David Morrison prepare to lay the 'foundation' tile to mark the construction of the new Canadian chancery in Hà Nội during the ceremony on Wednesday. — VNS Photo Trọng Kiên

HÀ NỘI — A ceremony was held by the Embassy of Canada to Việt Nam on Wednesday to mark the commencement of the construction of the new Canadian chancery in Hà Nội, with the attendance of Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hà Kim Ngọc and Canadian counterpart David Morrison, who is in Hà Nội for the bilateral political consultation.

Located on the 22th floor of the Capital Place building on Liễu Giai Street in the bustling commercial centre of Hà Nội, the chancery is set to be operational towards the end of 2024.

The new modern, environmentally sustainable, accessible and inclusive space will serve as a tangible expression of Canada's growing relations with Việt Nam under the Indo-Pacific Strategy, according to Canadian deputy foreign minister David.

Việt Nam has been Canada's number one trading partner in ASEAN since 2015. With the implementation of CPTPP, there's been significant growth in bilateral trade. Canada has also been a trusted development partner in Việt Nam, and one of the few partners whose international assistance budget for Việt Nam is growing - since 1990, and Canada has contributed more than $1.8 billion in official development assistance to support stable poverty reduction efforts, the Canadian diplomat remarked.

This marks a significant milestone and takes place in the year of the 50th anniversary of relations between Canada and Việt Nam, he noted, adding that "We are proud to celebrate this occasion by looking into the future knowing that Canada's footprint is expanding and a diplomatic team is growing."

Vietnamese deputy foreign minister Ngọc recalled the establishment of the Canadian embassy in Hà Nội, saying that Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien, together with Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyễn Mạnh Cầm cut the ribbon to inaugurate the Canadian Embassy headquarters on Hùng Vương Street in November 1994 during the first visit by a Canadian Prime Minister to Việt Nam.

"It not only laid the groundwork for fostering bilateral relations at that time but also established a solid foundation for the two countries to achieve a high level of comprehensive partnership in the decades that followed," Ngọc stressed.

Ngọc highlighted bright spots in the cooperation between the two countries in multiple areas, from defense and security, trade, politics, education and training, to local cooperation, people-to-people diplomacy, environmental protection, ocean protection, and climate change response.

He described the relationship between the two countries as having attained fruitful achievements over the years and expressed confidence that the future cooperation between the two sides would continue to develop.

"As the bilateral relations between Việt Nam and Canada are developing positively and significantly, it is natural that the workload of the embassy staff have to handle has increased. And in that context, the current chancery on Hùng Vương Street, the witness to the history of relations between Việt Nam and Canada, home to generations of Canadian diplomat, no longer accommodate the ever growing staff of the embassy," Ngọc said.

"I'm confident that the new chancery in Hà Nội we will not only meet the need for work space for the embassy staff, but it will also be a venue of value for those who are interested to come to learn about the country of Canada with a rich cultural identities and fantastic landscape, as well as to fully understand the relationship that is growing day by day between the two countries," he stated.

Canadian Ambassador to Việt Nam Shawn Steil shows the concept design for the new Canadian embassy in Hà Nội to Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hà Kim Ngọc. — Photo from the Embassy of Canada to Việt Nam

Speaking to the press, Canadian Ambassador to Việt Nam Shawn Steil said in terms of Canada's Indo Pacific strategy (released late 2022), "Việt Nam is one of the few countries where all of the objectives of our strategy come into play, whether it's security, development, trade, environment, and climate change, or simply advancing our political engagement, Việt Nam is a focus of all five of those strategies."

"We see Việt Nam as being a crucial player in peace, security development, and trade in the entire Indo Pacific region," he added.

Since 2020, Việt Nam and Canada have since 2020 started to develop a much more comprehensive relationship, including support for Việt Nam's Women, Peace, and Security agenda, a MoU on peacekeeping where Canada will be boosting support for Việt Nam to play an important role in international peacekeeping, as well as capacity building for the military.

"Canada and Việt Nam both recognise that defence of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is very important for maintaining peaceful maritime environments," the Canadian diplomat noted, saying that the two sides are launching next year a maritime security dialogue between the two Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ambassador also highlighted environment as a crucial part of maritime security, and so Canada is deploying development assistance projects to facilitate smart coastal community communities in Việt Nam to adapt to climate change. — VNS

Delegates at the ceremony. — Photo from the Embassy of Canada to Việt Nam