Representatives from CPTPP member countries posed for a group photo following the signing ceremony in Santiago, Chile on March 8, 2018 (Photo: AFP/VNA)Ottawa (VNA) - Canada’s Minister of International TradeDiversification Jim Carr and Minister of Infrastructure and CommunitiesFrançois-Philippe Champagne attended a ceremony in Vancouver on February 11 tomark the coming into force of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
According a news release of the Canadian Government, the agreement will createnew opportunities to attract job-creating investment to Canada and expandexport opportunities to dynamic and fast-growing markets in the Asia-Pacificregion.
The CPTPP will create more jobs for the middle-class and people working hard tojoin it. The new CPTPP provides access to almost 500 million more consumers forthe world-class products and services Canadian workers and their families haveto offer.
Up to 99 percent of Canada’s current exports to CPTPP markets will entertariff-free. By opening new markets to Canadian goods and services, the CPTPPwill benefit Canadians from coast to coast to coast, across a variety ofsectors, from farmers to factory workers, start-ups and small businesses,creating more jobs and providing lower prices for consumers.
CPTPP is a free trade agreement between Canada and ten countries inAsia-Pacific, comprising Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, NewZealand, Peru and Vietnam.
The deal came into force in Canada, Australia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand andSingapore on December 30, 2018, and in Vietnam on January 14, 2019.
It is expected to promote trade ties between Vietnam and Canada. With Canada’sfast tariff reduction roadmap (from 17 – 18 percent to zero percent in threeyears), some Vietnamese items are forecast to witness strong export growth asfrom 2019 like textile-garment, footwear, handbags, plastics and wood products.
Canadian businesses are interested in Vietnam’s opening of its market forforeign agricultural products such as pork, beef, chicken, aquatic products andfresh fruits.
Trade between Vietnam and Canada in 2018 is estimated at 6.36 billion CAD (4.6billion USD), up 4.2 percent from the previous year, with the Southeast Asiannation recording a surplus of some 4.34 billion CAD.-VNA
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