How will the embassy celebrate its National Day on July 1?
The embassy will be hosting a trade promotion event on July 1st featuring the very best of Canadian beef, pork, and wine, with a special performance by singer Duc Tuan whose latest album Music of the Night was arranged and recorded in Montreal, Canada.
What are the main achievements in business over the past 36 years of diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and Canada?
The volume of commercial activity between Canada and Viet Nam has grown dramatically since the start of our diplomatic relations and so has the range of import-export goods and investment. In 2008, we set a new record for total bilateral trade which was up 20 per cent to hit US$1.3 billion. Canada was the 6th largest investor in Viet Nam last year by registered capital, as recorded by the Ministry of Planning and Investment; our interests cover a variety of areas including real estate, insurance, oil and gas, mining, and agriculture.
Agri-food makes up one-third of our exports – from wheat and barley, to beef, pork and seafood, wine and confectionery. Canada also prides itself on its sustainable forestry management; we have become a significant supplier of certified forest products for Viet Nam’s furniture manufacturing industry.
Canada is also moving into such emerging sectors as environmental technologies and sustainable energy. A Canadian consortium is delivering a capacity-building project for Vietnamese institutions to effectively manage industrial pollution. Canadian companies are exploring opportunities in wind energy, and Canadian technology is being used in Viet Nam’s first official Clean Development Mechanism project on landfill gas.
Canada excels in wireless technology, and one of the most recent Canadian products to hit the market in Viet Nam is the Blackberry, a globally successful smart phone.
Our education institutions are not only attracting record numbers of students to Canada, but are also partnering with local schools to deliver high-quality academic programmes in Viet Nam.
How are negotiations proceeding for the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) between Viet Nam and Canada?
The key objectives of a FIPA are a high standard of investor protection, and a level playing field for Canadians investing in Viet Nam – not trade liberalisation. Canadian investors place great importance on the predictability and stability that a FIPA ensures, so having a FIPA sends a positive signal to investors. Canada desires an ambitious, high-quality agreement with Viet Nam. We hope for significant movement in the next round of negotiations which will be in Viet Nam later this month.
Canada has long supported Vietnamese development efforts in education. Recently, Canada expressed a willingness to share with Viet Nam its experiences in the field of teacher training and vocational training. How has this been carried out?
Through its development co-operation programme, Canada has contributed to teacher training and vocational training in Viet Nam since 1996. Through the Primary Education for Disadvantaged Children Project, we are providing technical and financial assistance to specialised teacher training programmes. Furthermore, we are now in the final planning stages of a new project, which will not only assist in the development of vocational training programmes, but also provide specialised management training to university and college professionals throughout Viet Nam.
Viet Nam and Canada signed a memorandum of understanding over a Judicial Development and Grassroots Engagement Project (JUDGE) in 2006. How has Viet Nam benefited from this project?
The JUDGE project became operational in 2007; its objective is to strengthen judicial training capacity and support court administration reforms, both of which are part of the judicial reform agenda in Viet Nam. We work closely with the Supreme People’s Court and the Ministry of Justice’s legal judicial training school. In the coming months, we hope to involve several social organisations in the project’s activities.
The project has had positive results to date. For example, activities with the Supreme People’s Court, provincial courts and the Judicial Academy have drawn on Canadian experience in court reform, administration and judicial training, along with the use of results-based management in court management and administration. Personnel and instructors at the Judicial Academy have further enhanced their skills in developing more effective curricula and training materials. Aiming to be responsive to Viet Nam’s needs, this project has allowed Vietnamese partners in the Ministry of Justice to learn from the experience of other countries in community-based conciliation to determine applicable approaches in the Vietnamese context.
The number of Vietnamese students who want to study in Canada has increased in recent years. Does the embassy create favourable conditions for them to study in Canada? Does the embassy have a plan to boost education co-operation between the two countries?
Canada at a glance
Area: 9,984,670sq.km
Population: 33,305,000 (2008 estimate)
Capital: Ottawa
Language: English, French
Currency: Canadian dollar
National Flag: White background with two vertical red stripes on both sides and a red maple in the middle
Education is our top priority in Viet Nam, and we are making it easier for Vietnamese students to access the Canadian education experience. Our immigration section has been working hard to streamline the visa process for qualified Vietnamese students and, as a result, visa processing times are faster this year. The visa acceptance rate is the highest it’s been since the visa office opened in 2003. There were 590 Vietnamese students, who received visas to study in Canada in 2008, a 125 per cent increase from 2007.
Most full-time international students in Canada are permitted to work 20 hours per week and full-time during school breaks, one of the only countries in the world with this benefit. Furthermore, it is now the policy that international students in eligible degree programmes can work in Canada for up to three years after completing their degree. This policy shift is yet another indication of our commitment and openness to welcoming more international students to Canada, as well as ensuring they gain the practical experience to succeed wherever their future careers take them.
In addition to recruiting students, more Canadian education institutions are partnering with Vietnamese counterparts to deliver programmes in Viet Nam and train professionals in Canada. We are encouraging more Canadian institutions to come to meet Vietnamese students and answer questions about their programmes, and to explore collaboration opportunities.
