Ottawa (VNA) – ASEAN and Canada need to promote cooperation in priority fields such as maritime and cyber security, fighting human trafficking, coping with climate change and ensuring water security, especially the Mekong River lower reaches, a Vietnamese official has said.
Head of the Vietnam delegation Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung made the suggestion at the 14th ASEAN-Canada Dialogue in Ottawa, Canada, on May 7-8.
He proposed that the two sides continue utilising effectively existing mechanisms such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the ASEAN-Canada consultative meeting, urging Canada to bring into full play its role as an important member of major groupings such as the G7 and the G20, and back the ASEAN in building a rule-based regional security structure.
The delegate called for promoting education cooperation through increasing the number of Canada’s scholarships for Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam, and closer links between ASEAN and Canada in tourism and people-to-people exchange, along with joint efforts to narrow development gap.
He also asked Canada to encourage its firms to invest in infrastructure projects, development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-up activities in ASEAN member nations.
The Vietnamese diplomat stated that Vietnam always attaches importance to ASEAN-Canada relations and hopes the two sides will have more practical activities to fully tap the cooperation potential
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