Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn holds phone talks with Canadian counterpart Marc Garneau on Monday. —VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn on Monday held phone talks with his Canadian counterpart Marc Garneau, during which he said Việt Nam highly valued Canada’s efforts in enhancing its relations with ASEAN and Việt Nam.

Sơn congratulated Canada on its successes in containing COVID-19, and thanked the country for its support to Việt Nam in dealing with the consequences of natural disasters in the central region and fighting the pandemic, especially in access to COVID-19 vaccines.

For his part, Garneau said Canada attached importance to the bilateral ties, and wanted to deepen the Canada-Việt Nam comprehensive partnership.

He also applauded Việt Nam’s efforts in controlling COVID-19, as well as the close coordination between the two countries in the fight against the pandemic.

The minister reiterated Canada’s commitment to help Việt Nam and other countries in the region secure COVID-19 vaccines via the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, the COVAX Facility, and the ASEAN COVID-19 Response Fund.  

The two ministers highly evaluated the fruitful development of Việt Nam-Canada relations in many fields, especially since the two countries elevated bilateral relations to a comprehensive partnership in 2017.

Despite adverse impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, two-way trade still reached US$5 billion in 2020, up 31 per cent before the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) took effect.

Towards the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties (1973-2023), the two ministers agreed to take concrete measures to promote relations as directed by the two Prime Ministers during their phone talks on May 19, 2021, including the exchange of delegations at all levels and the regular maintenance of cooperation mechanisms between the two foreign ministries.

The two sides agreed to expand collaboration in many fields, especially in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting Việt Nam's access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Việt Nam and Canada will strive to raise two-way trade to $8 billion in the next two years and encourage their businesses to take advantage of opportunities brought by the CPTPP, while strengthening cooperation in education, finance, digital economy, innovation, sustainable development, clean energy, response to climate change and cooperation between localities.

The two ministers also discussed the international and regional situation, including the East Sea issue, affirming the significance of observing international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They also agreed to continue working together closely at regional and international multilateral forums such as the United Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the International Organization of the Francophonie. — VNS