The ties between Vietnam and Canada have seen development in manyfields over the recent past towards a comprehensive, stable andlong-term partnership, Vietnamese Ambassador to Canada To Anh Dung saidon the occasion of the 40 th anniversary of the two countries’diplomatic ties.

The Vietnamese Embassy inCanada hosted a ceremony to mark the anniversary in Canada’s capitalcity of Ottawa on November 5, which saw the attendance ofParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs DeepakObhrai and former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, severalrepresentatives from the Canada-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Groupand government officials.

Ambassador Dung said it is now afavourable time to further boost the bilateral ties as Canada adoptsthe policy of expanding its cooperation with Asia-Pacific countrieswhile Vietnam is also making efforts to integrate into the regionand the world.

The Vietnamese diplomat hailed Canada ’spositive contribution to the development of Southeast Asia and theAsia-Pacific region at large, and thanked Canada for its help toVietnam ’s national construction.

DeepakObhrai underlined the bilateral ties’ development which was marked byState-level visits and meetings between the two sides’ leaders, notablythe first Vietnam visit of the Canadian Governor-General in November2011.

He noted that two-way trade turnoverreached nearly 2 billion USD last year and expressed his hope of seeingstronger development of Vietnam .

On theoccasion, the Vietnam-Canada ties and Vietnamese culture were introducedthrough photos and video clips. Internationally r enowned pianistDang Thai Son gave a performance.-VNA