Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan (R) and Canadian Ambassador Shawn Steil at the exhibition held as part of the celebration event. (Photo: VNA)

At the ceremony, representing the Government of Vietnam, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan affirmed that Vietnam highly values its relationship with Canada and wants the ties to be further strengthened in a friendly, cooperative, stable, long-lasting, and mutually beneficial manner, contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

She said Vietnam welcomes Canada's increasing attention and positive contributions to the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions as well as recognition of ASEAN's centrality and Vietnam's role as a "bridge" and "gateway" in the region.

Since the Vietnam-Canada comprehensive partnership was established in November 2017, the bilateral relationship has gained new momentum for robust development, particularly in economic and trade, healthcare, education and training, defence cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges. Their bilateral trade volume reached 7 billion USD in 2022. Currently, Canada is Vietnam's third-largest trading partner in the Americas region, while Vietnam is Canada's largest trading partner in ASEAN. There are over 30,000 overseas Vietnamese residing in Canada and more than 20,000 Vietnamese students studying in Canada.

Minister Lan expressed her gratitude for Canada’s support for Vietnam so far and proposed that the Canadian Government and people continue to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese expatriate community to integrate into the host society and actively contribute to the development of both nations and their friendly and traditional relationship.

Canadian Ambassador Shawn Steil emphasised that Canada had demonstrated its commitment to peace and prosperity in Vietnam from an early stage by playing a leading role in supporting the 1954 Geneva Agreement.

The Ambassador stated that Canada recognises Vietnam's significant diplomatic efforts to gain independence and global recognition. Many things have changed over the past five decades, but one thing that never changes is that Canada is proud to assist Vietnam on its path to becoming a more developed, peaceful, and prosperous nation.

He reaffirmed Canada's commitment to continue supporting Vietnam in its efforts to switch to clean energy, address climate change, and pursue sustainable economic growth. He said he believes that the reliable bilateral partnership not only brings greater prosperity to their people but also contributes to global peace and security.

Looking towards the future, Canada considers Vietnam a key partner in a more secure, prosperous, comprehensive, and sustainable Indian Ocean - Pacific region, stressed the Ambassador.