Vietnam and Canada Elevate Relations to Strategic Partnership

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM Government News Below are the full Joint Statement: At the invitation of the Governor General of Canada, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Louise Arbour, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam and President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam To Lam paid a State visit to Canada from September 24 to 25, 2026. This was the first official visit to Canada of a General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1973, marking a historic milestone in Viet Nam - Canada relations. As part of the visit, His Excellency To Lam met with the Right Honourable Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, in Ottawa. The visit demonstrated the strong commitment of both Leaders to usher bilateral relations into a new era of deeper, more substantive and more sustainable cooperation, underpinned by stronger economic cooperation, mutually beneficial growth, and sustainable development. Viet Nam and Canada are trusted partners committed to a relationship grounded in mutual respect for each other's political system, independence, and sovereignty and territorial integrity; open and honest dialogue; balanced and intertwined interests, adherence to international laws and the United Nations Charter for the purposes of regional and global peace, stability, cooperation, and development. As countries with deep integration in the global trading system, Viet Nam and Canada recognize that prosperity depends on a rules-based international economic engagements. The two leaders elevated Viet Nam - Canada relations to a Strategic Partnership anchored in eight pillars: 1) Bilateral, Regional and Multilateral Cooperation; 2) Trade, Investment, Financial and Economic Cooperation; 3) Cooperation on Transportation and Supply Chain Management and Infrastructure; 4) Cooperation on Digital Transformation, Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Technologies, and Innovation; 5) Cooperation on Energy Security, Environment and Sustainable Growth; 6) Cooperation on Food Security, and Agri-food; 7) Cooperation on Defence, Security, Maritime, Law Enforcement, and Justice; and, 8) Cooperation on Education, Culture, and People-to-People Ties. Collectively, these pillars position Viet Nam and Canada to address shared challenges, seize emerging opportunities, and contribute to a more secure, prosperous, and dynamic Indo-Pacific region. 1. Leaders recognized the importance of sustained engagement to reinforce the institutional foundations of the bilateral relationship, facilitate cooperation on shared priorities, and support the effective management of emerging challenges and opportunities. Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening political trust and mutual understanding through regular high-level exchanges, existing bilateral mechanisms, such as Viet Nam - Canada Bilateral Consultations, the Joint Economic Committee, the Defence Policy Dialogue and the Maritime Dialogue, and enhanced engagement among relevant organizations, in accordance with the laws and regulations of both countries. Leaders also welcomed opportunities for regular dialogues between Foreign Ministers of both sides and the establishment of a Viet Nam - Canada Agriculture Dialogue and discussions towards establishing a bilateral Security and Law enforcement Dialogue. During the visit, General Secretary and President To Lam invited Prime Minister Mark Carney to visit Viet Nam. 2. Leaders also welcomed commitments to enhance parliamentary cooperation through exchanges between committees, friendship groups, women and young parliamentarians of both countries, contributing to stronger mutual understanding and people-to-people links. 3. Both Leaders share a commitment to upholding international law and strengthening regional and multilateral cooperation in fora including through the United Nations, APEC, ASEAN-led mechanisms, and La Francophonie, as well as under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). They reaffirmed support for ASEAN Centrality, discussed coordination of Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy, and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific and committed to deepen cooperation under the ASEAN - Canada Strategic Partnership. This includes cooperation on areas of mutual interest including energy, food security, artificial intelligence and digital economy. Canada welcomed Viet Nam's leadership in chairing the CPTPP Commission in 2026 and continued collaboration under the CPTPP - EU Trade and Investment Dialogue, as well as preparations to host APEC in 2027, and stood ready to support Viet Nam in this role, as well as during its ASEAN Chairmanship in 2030. Viet Nam welcomed Canada's offers to host La Francophonie in 2028 and APEC in 2029. Both sides also committed to continue coordinating on regional and global challenges and advancing shared interests to promote peace and stability, and adherence to international law, including the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the United Nations Charter. 1. Trade is a cornerstone of the Viet Nam - Canada relationship, largely facilitated by the CPTPP. Viet Nam is Canada's largest trading partner in ASEAN, and rapid growth in trade demonstrates the strength of our economic partnership and the significant potential that remains to expand trade, investment, strategic business partnerships, and development cooperation in support of our mutual priorities. 2. Leaders reaffirmed their support for the successful conclusion and implementation of the ASEAN - Canada Free Trade Agreement as soon as possible, which will serve as an important foundation to advance deeper economic cooperation between Canada and ASEAN. Both sides also agreed to maximize the effectiveness of the Viet Nam - Canada Joint Economic Committee and reaffirmed their support for the implementation, modernization and expansion of the CPTPP. Additionally, Viet Nam and Canada are supporting regional connectivity and rules-based trade through interest-sharing partners, the CPTPP Trade and Investment Dialogues with the European Union and ASEAN. Both sides also reiterated their support for a non-discriminatory, open, fair, inclusive, equitable, transparent and rules-based multilateral trading system. Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to advancing internationally recognized labour rights and principles, decent work and inclusive economic growth in accordance with relevant International Labour Organization (ILO) standards. Leaders welcomed continued engagement at the ILO, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank Group (WBG), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and under the CPTPP. These commitments aim to remove market access barriers and promote reciprocal market access, facilitate movement of goods and services between the two countries, supporting their businesses in deepening integration into