Illustrative image. A container port in Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo: AFP/VNA) Ottawa (VNA)– The Vietnam Trade Office in Canada coordinated with the Canada-ASEAN BusinessCouncil and the institute of researching new challenges in economic globalisation(NEME) of Laval University to organise a seminar to evaluate investment potential in Vietnam and the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN) region.
Themed "Vietnam, the door to the Indo-Pacific for Quebec businesses", the seminar has attracted the interest of many businesses and entrepreneurs in Canada's province because it is an opportunity to reassess the levelof awareness and utilisation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (CPTPP) by Canadian businesses after five yearsof implementation.
The seminar was also one of aseries of events celebrating the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and Vietnam and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Trade Office in Canada.
The Indo-Pacific region is currently the second largest international export market for Quebec province and is also one of Canada's fastest growing markets in recent years.
In his opening remarks,Director General of the Indo-Pacific Region Gabriel Chartier of the Quebec Ministryof International Relations and Francophonie emphasised Quebec's specialcooperative relationship with Vietnam, in which the companies of theprovince always have acompetitive advantage thanks to their closeness in language and culture.
He also said that the QuebecGovernment always gives priority to Vietnam and considers the Southeast Asiancountry a new intersection in the global value chain because of its potential in a number of key fields, includingrenewable energy.
An overview of the seminar (Photo: VNA) Vietnam is currentlyCanada's largest trading partner in the ASEAN region and a leadingdestination for Canadian goods exported to ASEAN, therefore, Vietnam is considered to be a gateway forCanadian companies that want to develop in this region.
ASEAN is considered the fastestgrowing economic region in the world and will be the world's consumption centreby 2030 thanks to its market size. The bloc is currently the 5th largesteconomy in the world and is emerging as a new global hub for trade, exchange and innovation.
At the seminar, speakers,who are NEME experts, presented Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy, which focusedon analysing implementation directions to improve the economic links of Canada and Quebecprovince with this area. They said that scrutinising the overall landscape of economic integration and free trade in theIndo-Pacific has helped businesses form an overall assessment of trade cooperation mechanisms in the region, which can have an effect on their businessstrategies./.
