Room remains for Vietnam, Canada to expand trade cooperation

 

Two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Canada increased by 12.8 percent last year and 28.5 percent in the first seven months of this year, reflecting a reliable and complementary trading partnership, Vietnamese Ambassador to Canada Pham Cao Phong has said.

He made the statement at a seminar entitled “Vietnam-Canada Supply Chains Cooperation: Present and Future” held in both virtual and in-person forms on October 15.  It aimed to explore opportunities to foster collaboration between Vietnamese and Canadian companies in supply chains in the current and post-COVID era.

The Vietnamese diplomat said the friendship and the growing cooperative relationship between Vietnam and Canada provide a firm  foundation for a reliable and sustainable supply chain.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), of which Vietnam and Canada are founding members, offers tax incentives for trading in both consumer goods and raw materials. This factor creates favourable conditions for trade, providing goods, services and materials for production lines in the context of the turbulent global economic environment, ensuring human and economic security of the two countries, Phong said.

Echoed the opinion of Phong, Senator Victor Oh emphasised that although the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected global trade, statistics show trade ties between Vietnam and Canada remain firm, proving that there are still growth opportunities to explore. Since 2015, Vietnam has been Canada's largest trading partner in ASEAN. Canada has removed 94 percent of the total tariff lines on goods importing from Vietnam within the framework of CPTPP, and Vietnam has abolished 66 percent of tariff lines on Canadian goods. 

Jay Allen, Executive Director for the Trade Policy and Negotiations – Asia Division at Global Affairs Canada (GAC) said the CPTPP is a great success for businesses as well as consumers in Vietnam and Canada. Given the two countries' deep ties, trade cooperation has just begun, he said.

Ambassador Phong recommended that in order to adapt to the new normal situation in the post-COVID-19 period, businesses of the two countries need to further discuss the establishment of a common governance support centre, the B2B model ( transaction conducting between two companies), research and development (R&D), after-sales service, digitisation and digital security.
 
With a GDP growth rate of 1.42 percent in the first nine months of this year, Vietnam is an attractive destination for investment and business activities thanks to its political and macroeconomic stability as well as dynamic and abundant human resources.

As a founding member of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Vietnam can act as a bridge for Canadian businesses to reach a market of 2.2 billion people, or almost 30 percent of the world's population, with a combined GDP of 26.2 trillion USD or about 30 percent of global GDP. In the opposite direction, Canada can be a door for Vietnamese goods to penetrate the US and Mexican markets - members of the new North American Free Trade Agreement./.