Ottawa (VNA) – A delegation of theVietnamese National Assembly (NA)’s Committee for External Affairs visitedOttawa and Toronto of Canada from June 20 to 25 to bolster parliamentary tiesand discuss the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-PacificPartnership (CPTPP).

In Ottawa, the delegation, led by Chairman ofthe Committee for External Affairs Nguyen Van Giau, met with senators Yuen PauWoo and Victor Oh, along with members of the House of Commons Dean Allison,Terry Sheehan and Joe Peschisolido.

They also had working sessions with HughCheetham – senior advisor at the Department of Justice, and Gary Lee – deputyhead of the Trade Negotiations-Asia, Kyle Gervais – senior analyst at the TradeNegotiations-Asia and Joy Vicente – Trade Commissioner at the Southeast Asia ofthe Department of Global Affairs.

At the sessions, the two sides spoke highly ofthe friendship between Canada and Vietnam, noting that bilateral relations aredeveloping soundly as seen in various fields and through mutual visits,particularly a trip to Vietnam by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau inNovember 2017 on the occasion of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to Canada and attendance in the G7 OutreachSummit in Charlevoix from June 7 to 10.

Although trade, political, diplomatic andeducational ties, development cooperation and people-to-people exchange havebeen increased in recent years, they still need to be enhanced to match thepotential of the countries’ comprehensive partnership established lastNovember, the officials said.

They highlighted cooperation between the twoparliaments, which has become more and more fruitful.

ꦫ[Infographics: Vietnam – important partner of Canada]

Chairman of the Committee for External AffairsGiau thanked Canadian legislators for their contributions to the Meeting of theAsia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum held in Vietnam last January.

He added legislative ties will help promote thecountries’ relations, noting that this cooperation will support stateactivities as well as the implementation of agreements signed by the two governments.

At the working sessions, the two sides alsoshared experience and discussed the CPTPP ratification process. They lookedinto challenges and prospects in the agreement’s implementation, including thesettlement of conflicts of interest and support for vulnerable subjects in theCPTPP enforcement.

The Canadian officials promised they willpromote the CPTPP ratification whenever conditions and time are suitable.

Yuen Pau Woo said the ratification will be apriority of the Canadian government when the parliament gathers this autumn,expressing his belief that parliamentarians will approve the trade deal.

Dean Allison said the CPTPP will bring many benefitsto Canada, allowing the country to access a market with a population ofhundreds of millions. Agreeing, Gary Lee affirmed the general support for theCPTPP as this agreement will open a new market in Asia-Pacific, where Canada doesn’thave any free trade agreements.

From June 23 to 25, the Vietnamese delegationmet with Deputy Mayor of Toronto Denzil Minnan-Wong to talk the prospects ofToronto’s cooperation with Vietnamese localities, especially in renewable energy,tourism, education and infrastructure.

Canada was the second destination of a tour ofJapan and Canada by Vietnamese NA officials to foster parliamentary connectionsand CPTPP ratification.-VNA