President Luong Cuong receives Ambassadors of Canada and Iran

On the morning of June 26, at the Presidential Palace, President Luong Cuong received the Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada and the Islamic Republic of Iran who came to bid farewell on the occasion of the end of their term of office.

President Luong Cuong received Canadian Ambassador to Vietnam Shawn Steil to bid farewell. Photo: Lam Khanh/VNA

Congratulating the Canadian Ambassador on his successful tenure in Vietnam, the President thanked and highly appreciated the role and positive contributions of Mr. Shawn Perry Steil in promoting the effective and substantive development of the bilateral relationship, especially on important occasions such as the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the Comprehensive Partnership (2017-2022) or the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations (1973-2023).

The President expressed his delight at the fact that despite the profound changes in the international and regional situation in recent times, the Vietnam-Canada Comprehensive Partnership has maintained a positive development momentum; the two sides have actively held meetings and contacts between high-ranking leaders of the two countries on the sidelines of important international conferences. Economic and trade cooperation has progressed positively with trade turnover growing steadily; defense cooperation has always been a bright spot in the Vietnam-Canada relationship.

The President highly appreciated the two sides' continued promotion of people-to-people exchanges and cooperation between localities. In addition, the Vietnamese community of nearly 300,000 people living and studying in Canada are also silent "Ambassadors", making persistent contributions to strengthening the friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

In the coming time, the President said that the two countries need to focus on taking advantage of the opportunities and strengths of both countries being members of important multilateral organizations in the region such as CPTPP, APEC and especially with Canada becoming a Strategic Partner of ASEAN to promote the strong, substantive and mutually beneficial development of the Vietnam-Canada bilateral relationship.

The President hopes to continue receiving the Ambassador's attention and support in the coming time, regardless of his position, for the Vietnam-Canada relationship, especially in promoting the early study of upgrading the bilateral relationship to a new level; he believes that the Strategic Partnership framework, if established, will create a larger and more solid space for the bilateral relationship to develop, bringing benefits to the people and businesses of both sides.

The President suggested that the two sides continue to actively increase delegation exchanges, dialogues, cooperation and expand contacts on all channels of the Party, State, Parliament and people-to-people exchanges, with special priority given to the exchange of high-ranking leaders...; strengthen cooperation in education - training, science and technology, intellectual property, information and communication. In addition, ensuring food safety and animal and plant quarantine are also areas with great potential that the two sides can jointly find ways to exploit and promote.

The President believes that in any position, the Ambassador will continue to make efforts to support the development of Vietnam - Canada relations, for the benefit of the people of the two countries, contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region.

Expressing his gratitude to the President for taking the time to meet him, Ambassador Shawn Perry Steil shared his deep impressions of Vietnam after his term of office, especially Vietnam's openness and sincerity in cooperation with international partners, including Canada; as well as Vietnam's commitments and responsibilities in global issues.

The Ambassador also highly appreciated Vietnam's comprehensive efforts in socio-economic development, and recognized Vietnam's increasing position and prestige in international activities in the context of Vietnam entering a new and promising era of development.

The Ambassador emphasized that the Canadian Government always attaches importance to the relationship with Vietnam, especially in the context of the new Canadian Government making strategic adjustments to adapt to global changes; believing that in the coming time, with the resources that Canada is investing through the Indo-Pacific strategy, the two countries will have many new initiatives to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

The Ambassador affirmed that Canada will always accompany, support and cooperate with Vietnam to fulfill its commitments, especially in the fields of climate change response, energy transition, education and human resource development.

Receiving Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ali Akbar Nazari, the President congratulated the Ambassador on a successful term of office with his positive contributions to consolidating and promoting the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.

President Luong Cuong received Iranian Ambassador to Vietnam Ali Akbar Nazari to bid farewell. Photo: Lam Khanh/VNA

The President highly appreciated the Ambassador's efforts in organizing many activities to connect businesses and cultural and artistic exchanges, especially on the occasion of the two countries celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, thereby contributing to effectively promoting cooperation between the two countries.

The President expressed his impression of Iran with its long history and rich culture; highly appreciated Iran's achievements in national construction and development.

President Luong Cuong received Iranian Ambassador to Vietnam Ali Akbar Nazari to bid farewell. Photo: Lam Khanh/VNA

The President affirmed that as a country that has experienced war and loss, Vietnam shares the difficulties that the Iranian people are facing; welcomed the ceasefire agreement just reached between the parties and expressed hope that the agreement will contribute to bringing peace and stability to the region. The President emphasized Vietnam's consistent stance that the parties wish to resolve their differences through dialogue on the basis of international law.

Affirming that Vietnam always attaches importance to and wishes to continue promoting the friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Iran, the President hopes that, in any position, with his experience and deep understanding of Vietnam, the Ambassador will continue to show good feelings for the Vietnamese people and pay attention to further promoting the friendly cooperation between the two countries in all fields.

Ambassador Ali Akbar Nazari expressed his deep gratitude to the leaders of the Party, State and ministries, departments and branches of Vietnam for their support and effective coordination during his tenure; highlighted the impression of Vietnam's strong development in recent years and the affection that the Vietnamese people have for the Ambassador personally.

The Ambassador emphasized that during his term, the two countries have signed many important cooperation documents, cooperated well at international organizations and multilateral forums, creating a solid foundation to further promote bilateral relations. He said that the two sides still have a lot of room for cooperation, especially in the field of economy and trade, and expressed hope that with determination from both sides, bilateral trade turnover will soon reach the target of 2 billion USD set by both sides. In addition, the Ambassador emphasized the importance of maintaining the exchange of delegations at all levels, especially high-level delegations. On this occasion, he respectfully reiterated the invitation of the President of Iran to the President to soon arrange a visit to Iran at an appropriate time.

Ambassador Ali Akbar Nazari affirmed that no matter what position he holds, he will always remember the sentiments of the Vietnamese State and people; and pledged to continue contributing to promoting and nurturing the Iran-Vietnam relationship to develop more effectively and sustainably.

Hoai Nam (Vietnam News Agency)

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/chu-tich-nuoc-luong-cuong-tiep-dai-su-canada-va-iran-20250626125732340.htm