Sydney: A delegation from the northern border mountainous province of Cao Bang has paid a working visit to Niagara to foster bilateral cooperation and learn from the Canadian region’s experience in cross-border trade and tourism development.

At an investment promotion conference held as part of the trip, Cao Bang emphasised its desire to seek partnerships to develop its strengths in border economy and tourism services. As a border economic zone strategically located between Canada’s industrial centres and the US’s major cities as well as a famous tourist destination with waterfalls attracting millions of visitors annually, Niagara is highly suitable for this development direction.

IBT College, representing the Niagara Economic Development Committee, signed a cooperation agreement with Cao Bang, serving the two sides’ exchange of study tours and the training of tourism personnel for the latter.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency’s reporter in Canada, Vice President of the IBT College James Rice hailed Cao Bang’s Ban Gioc waterfall as an unpolished diamond, similar to Niagara Falls many years ago. It offers an opportunity for Vietnam to leverage and develop Cao Bang in the future.

According to him, the IBT College is closely collaborating with the province to open an educational facility serving the training of tourism services for local tour guides and employees of restaurants and hotels.

Tran Thu Quynh, Trade Counselor at the Vietnamese Embassy in Canada, said the cooperation between Cao Bang and Niagara supports both sides in exploiting waterfall tourism and managing cross-border resources and trade.

Vietnam-Canada trade turnover reached 7 billion USD in 2022 and is expected to hit 10 billion USD in the coming years. Vietnam is currently Canada’s top trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Source: Vietnam News Agency