Vietnam, Canada Announce Establishment of Strategic Partnership

Por Sebastian Strangio — The Diplomat

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As middle powers reliant on international order that is in a state of disarray, Hanoi and Ottawa believe they have a lot to gain from deeper collaboration.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Vietnam’s President To Lam shake hands during their meeting in Ottawa, Canada, Sep. 24, 2026.

Vietnam has elevated its relationship to a Strategic Partnership, as Hanoi’s top leader To Lam paid a state visit to the country – the first ever by a general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).

During a meeting yesterday in Ottawa, Lam and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the two nations were upgrading the Comprehensive Partnership established in 2017.

Vietnamese state media reported that the two nations “agreed that Vietnam–Canada relations have met all the conditions to enter a new stage of development, characterized by a higher level of political trust, broader and more substantive cooperation, and more closely intertwined interests.”

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the two sides described themselves as “trusted partners” who were committed to a relationship “grounded in mutual respect for each other’s political system, independence, and sovereignty and territorial integrity” and characterized by “balanced and intertwined interests.”

Although the statement did not use the term, it also referenced their common status as “middle powers” reliant on an international order that is beginning to break down under the pressure of economic protectionism and intensifying geopolitical competition. “As countries with deep integration in the global trading system,” it stated, “Canada and Viet Nam recognize that prosperity depends on rules-based international economic engagements.”

According to the joint statement, the Strategic Partnership is focused on eight primary “pillars” of cooperation: bilateral, regional, and multilateral cooperation; trade and investment; transport and infrastructure; digital technologies and artificial intelligence; energy security; food security; defense and security; and education, culture, and “people-to-people ties.”

It said that these eight pillars “position Canada and Viet Nam to address shared challenges, seize emerging opportunities, and contribute to a more secure, prosperous, and dynamic Indo-Pacific region.”

For Canada, the upgrade to its relationship with Vietnam is consistent with both its recent engagement with Asia and the thrust of the now-famous speech that Carney delivered at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. During the speech, the Canadian leader cited the “rupture” in the world order, and the need for middle powers to “build a new order that encompasses our values, such as respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the various states.”

Despite their very different political systems, Vietnam and Canada have a lot in common that predicts a future of potentially fruitful cooperation. Both are middle powers bordering two much more powerful countries – China and the United States – that are locked into an increasingly adversarial relationship.

Trade between the two nations has also increased considerably in recent years, reaching $20.6 billion in two-way trade 2025. Vietnam is now Canada’s largest trading partner in ASEAN, while Canada is Vietnam’s ninth-largest in total. Both are also members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the free trade pact that was negotiated by the U.S. before President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2017.

For Vietnam, better relations with Canada is a valuable complement to its omnidirectional foreign policy, which seeks to maintain good relations with key partners among both the West and the “rest.” In the two years since taking over as CPV chief, Lam, who was also appointed state president earlier this year, has been particularly energetic in this regard, elevating eight nations into Vietnam’s circle of Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships, the top tier in its diplomatic hierarchy.

In addition to Canada, Vietnam under Lam’s leadership has also established Strategic Partnerships with Czechia, Finland, Bulgaria, and Belarus.

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Vietnam has elevated its relationship to a Strategic Partnership, as Hanoi’s top leader To Lam paid a state visit to the country – the first ever by a general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).

During a meeting yesterday in Ottawa, Lam and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the two nations were upgrading the Comprehensive Partnership established in 2017.

Vietnamese state media reported that the two nations “agreed that Vietnam–Canada relations have met all the conditions to enter a new stage of development, characterized by a higher level of political trust, broader and more substantive cooperation, and more closely intertwined interests.”

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the two sides described themselves as “trusted partners” who were committed to a relationship “grounded in mutual respect for each other’s political system, independence, and sovereignty and territorial integrity” and characterized by “balanced and intertwined interests.”

Although the statement did not use the term, it also referenced their common status as “middle powers” reliant on an international order that is beginning to break down under the pressure of economic protectionism and intensifying geopolitical competition. “As countries with deep integration in the global trading system,” it stated, “Canada and Viet Nam recognize that prosperity depends on rules-based international economic engagements.”

According to the joint statement, the Strategic Partnership is focused on eight primary “pillars” of cooperation: bilateral, regional, and multilateral cooperation; trade and investment; transport and infrastructure; digital technologies and artificial intelligence; energy security; food security; defense and security; and education, culture, and “people-to-people ties.”

It said that these eight pillars “position Canada and Viet Nam to address shared challenges, seize emerging opportunities, and contribute to a more secure, prosperous, and dynamic Indo-Pacific region.”

For Canada, the upgrade to its relationship with Vietnam is consistent with both its recent engagement with Asia and the thrust of the now-famous speech that Carney delivered at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. During the speech, the Canadian leader cited the “rupture” in the world order, and the need for middle powers to “build a new order that encompasses our values, such as respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the various states.”

Despite their very different political systems, Vietnam and Canada have a lot in common that predicts a future of potentially fruitful cooperation. Both are middle powers bordering two much more powerful countries – China and the United States – that are locked into an increasingly adversarial relationship.

Trade between the two nations has also increased considerably in recent years, reaching $20.6 billion in two-way trade 2025. Vietnam is now Canada’s largest trading partner in ASEAN, while Canada is Vietnam’s ninth-largest in total. Both are also members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the free trade pact that was negotiated by the U.S. before President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2017.

For Vietnam, better relations with Canada is a valuable complement to its omnidirectional foreign policy, which seeks to maintain good relations with key partners among both the West and the “rest.” In the two years since taking over as CPV chief, Lam, who was also appointed state president earlier this year, has been particularly energetic in this regard, elevating eight nations into Vietnam’s circle of Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships, the top tier in its diplomatic hierarchy.

In addition to Canada, Vietnam under Lam’s leadership has also established Strategic Partnerships with Czechia, Finland, Bulgaria, and Belarus.

Sebastian Strangio is Southeast Asia editor at The Diplomat. 

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Fonte: The Diplomat