On June 17, at the Headquarters of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense, General Phan Van Giang, Politburo member, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, and Defense Minister received Canadian Ambassador to Vietnam Shawn Steil.
At the reception, General Phan Van Giang congratulated Mr. Shawn Steil on successfully completing his tenure in Vietnam; expressing his belief that in his new position, the Ambassador would continue to make important contributions to promoting the comprehensive partnership between Vietnam and Canada in general and bilateral defense cooperation in particular. He also affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to its cooperative relationship with Canada; expressing his delight at the positive, in-depth, and substantive development of bilateral ties in many fields, in line with the interests of the two countries, contributing to peace, stability, and common development in the region and the world.
General Phan Van Giang emphasized that during the Ambassador’s tenure, the two defense ministries actively and effectively implemented cooperation activities on the basis of signed documents and agreements, including the 2019 Memorandum of Understanding on defense cooperation and the three-year Defense Cooperation Plan for the 2024 – 2026 period. The collaboration areas included exchange of delegations; dialogues and consultations; training; maritime security; defense industry; United Nations peacekeeping operations; overcoming war consequences, etc.
On this occasion, he respectfully thanked the Canadian Ministry of National Defense for sending a high-level delegation led by the Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy to attend the Vietnam International Defense Expo 2024, thereby contributing to the overall success of the event.
Regarding cooperation direction in the coming time, General Phan Van Giang suggested that the two defense ministries continue to closely coordinate in a number of areas such as exchange of delegations at all levels, especially high-level ones; effective maintenance of dialogue and consultation mechanisms; training; defense industry; search and rescue; border management; overcoming war consequences; United Nations peacekeeping operations; mutual consultation within multilateral defense and security mechanisms.
He affirmed that, based on the results of the 3rd Vietnam – Canada Defense Policy Dialogue held in February 2025, the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense will continue to direct relevant agencies to coordinate closely with the Canadian side to effectively implement the cooperation contents agreed upon by the two defense leaders, in accordance with the overall bilateral relationship, the practical situation and the needs and capabilities of each side.
For his part, Ambassador Shawn Steil thanked General Phan Van Giang for the warm reception, as well as effective support from the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense during his tenure in Vietnam.
Highly appreciating the defense cooperation between the two countries in recent times, Ambassador Shawn Steil hoped that the two sides would continue to further strengthen defense cooperation on the basis of the agreed contents, contributing to promoting the comprehensive partnership between Vietnam and Canada in the coming time.
