Vietnam – important destination for Canadian enterprises

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Ottawa (VNA) – Among members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Vietnam is the first ASEAN member country that Canadian businesses should think about when looking for investment opportunities in finance, clean energy, and farm produce and food trade, said former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada and former Premier of Quebec Jean Charest.

Speaking at a recent forum on cooperation to support enterprises in the new context co-organised by the Vietnam Trade Office in Canada and the Canada - Vietnam Trade Council, Charest said that Canada needs to expand its presence in the Asia-Pacific region and ASEAN countries in which Vietnam is an important destination. 

Since 2015, Vietnam has maintained its position as Canada's largest trading partner in ASEAN. Last year, two-way trade between Vietnam and Canada reached 10.5 billion CAD (7.7 billion USD), up from 8.9 billion CAD in 2020, according to Canada's statistics. 

The Government of Canada identifies priority areas for cooperation with Vietnam as agriculture, food processing, education, information and communication technology, clean technology, aerospace and life sciences.

Vietnam also has a great advantage as it is the only country in ASEAN with comprehensive bilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Vietnam-Canada Comprehensive Partnership Agreement and the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) between Vietnam and Canada.

Tran Thu Quynh, Head of the Vietnam Trade Office in Canada, recommended that state agencies, business associations and organisations of the two countries need to join hands to help businesses recognise opportunities, and take advantage of cooperation mechanisms to scale up trade ties.

Small and medium enterprises need to better exploit existing cooperation mechanisms to optimise their purchasing, branding strategy and investment strategy, towards forming a supply and production chain between the two countries.

Currently, Vietnam has more advantages than other partners in the Asia-Pacific region such as stable and relatively high economic growth, relatively low inflation, and positive macroeconomic balances. 

Now is the time for Vietnam to actively attract Canadian investors, especially investment funds that are moving from highly-inflating areas.

According to Julie Nguyen, Director of the Canada-Vietnam Trade Council, within the framework of Canada's Indo-Pacific strategy, the establishment of the Canadian Trade Gateway in Southeast Asia, the Office of Agriculture and Agricultural Trade and the Canadian government's budget for business investment promotion delegations will open up practical opportunities for Canadian businesses that plan to expand their operations in ASEAN and Vietnam.

Canadian businesses believe that with increased trade and investment promotion activities of the two countries, their businesses and labourers will benefit more from new supply chains and diversified markets. Many Canadian businesses have set up offices and production facilities in Vietnam to exploit its outstanding advantages in the global value chain./.