General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee and President To Lam, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, arrived in Ottawa on September 23 evening (local time), beginning his state visit to Canada at the invitation of Governor General Louise Arbour.

The visit follows his successful participation in the High-Level General Debate of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly and a series of bilateral engagements in the US.

Welcoming General Secretary and President To Lam and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation at Macdonald-Cartier International Airport were a Canadian government minister, Canadian Ambassador to Viet Nam Jim Nickel, Vietnamese Ambassador to Canada Pham Vinh Quang, and numerous embassy officials and staff.

After more than half a century of diplomatic relations and nearly a decade of implementing the comprehensive partnership framework, Viet Nam and Canada have built an increasingly solid foundation for their relationship. Political trust has been strengthened; economic, trade, and investment cooperation is developing dynamically; and collaboration in education and training, science and technology, defence and security, and people-to-people exchanges is becoming increasingly substantive.

Notably, both sides are striving to establish science and technology, innovation, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, clean energy, and human resource development as new drivers of the bilateral relationship.

Viet Nam and Canada possess many complementary strengths. Viet Nam is entering a new era of development, identifying science-technology, innovation, digital transformation, and extensive international integration as key drivers for realising its two centennial goals for 2030 and 2045. Meanwhile, Canada is intensifying market diversification and strengthening its engagement with the Indo-Pacific region.

Building upon the solid foundation of bilateral relations and the significant achievements attained across various fields of cooperation, this visit by General Secretary and President To Lam will generate strong political momentum. It aims to foster an increasingly substantive, balanced, and effective Viet Nam-Canada relationship, in line with the potential, strengths, and needs of both nations.

Furthermore, the visit will usher in a new phase of more strategic and comprehensive development between the two countries, contributing actively to peace and stability in the region and the world.