Nem ran (crispy spring rolls), listed among the 10 best dishes by CNN Travel, has been introduced during the ASEAN Happy Hour programme as part of the Ottawa Travel and Vacation Show in Canada.

Together with the traditional dish, the Vietnamese Embassy in Canada gave visitors an insight into thousand-year-old Hanoi city, the beauty of the UNESCO-recognised World Heritage Sites of Ha Long Bay and Phong Nha-Ke Bang.  This year, the Vietnamese booth became a highlight of the event, drawing a large number of visitors.  Along with Vietnamese cuisine, the ASEAN Happy Hour, held by the ASEAN Committee in Ottawa, also highlighted unique dishes of Brunei, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand.   Meanwhile, Vietnam ranked third in the top 10 countries with the fastest growth in the number of foreign tourists in 2018. However, the number of Canadian tourists to Vietnam has stayed modest at over 138,200 in 2017 and 104,057 in the eight first months of 2018. The Vietnam-Canada relationship has been growing, while the 250,000-strong Vietnamese community in the country is an important force helping foster the friendship between the two countries, he noted. Johnson predicted that the number of Canadian tourists to Vietnam will rise in the future.-VNA