The large number of people of Asian origin, including around 250,000 Vietnamese, in Canada is an advantage for businesses to boost exports of farm produce to the market (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The participation of PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in the G7 Outreach Summit and his visit to Canadafrom June 8-10 are expected to create more opportunities for Vietnamese and Canadianbusinesses to expand their partnership.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade,Vietnam is ranked fifth in Asia in terms of export turnover to Canada, afterChina, Japan, the Republic of Korea and China’s Taiwan.
The bilateral trade enjoys an annual averagegrowth of 20-25 percent and hit nearly 6 billion USD in 2017.
Vietnam mainly exported mobile phones, printers,electric cables, telecommunication equipment, wood furniture, garment-textile,footwear, aquatic products, coffee, cashew nuts, means of transportation andspare parts, sport equipment, rubber, plastic products, and processed fruit andvegetables to Canada.
The Southeast Asian country imported from Canadaagro-fishery products, soft wood, medicines, wine, navigation services, hightechnology and clean technology.
Canada is ranking 13th among the total 112countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 161 projects worth 5.2billion USD.
Vietnamese Trade Counselor in Canada Do Thi ThuHuong said there is still large room for Vietnamese enterprises to boostexports to Canada, a country that relies on imports for consumer goods.Although the country’s market scale is only one tenth of the US’ but its percapita import value doubles that of the US.
She noted that made-in-Vietnam goods only makeup over one percent of Canada’s total imports.
According to Huong, the large number of peopleof Asian origin, including around 250,000 Vietnamese, in Canada is an advantagefor businesses to boost exports of farm produce to the market.
The trade official added thatthe Canadian Government plans to diversify the market and reduce its importfrom the US. Therefore, Vietnam is one of the nations with which Canadiancompanies want to increase trade and investment ties, she said.
Huong revealed that the Vietnamese Trade Officein Canada has worked with Canada’s Trade Facilitation Office to implementprojects helping Vietnamese firms make inroads into the market.
Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh appreciatedCanada’s dynamism in cooperation with the ASEAN alongside with theTrans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
In the context of risingprotectionism, the role of countries with remarkable influence such as Canadais very important to international integration and globalization, the ministersaid.
He was of the view thatthe Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and other bilateral andmultilateral trade deals that both Vietnam and Canada might join will continueto provide an impetus for globalization.
Minister Tuan Anhaffirmed that Vietnam shares other ASEAN countries’ interest in researching andreaching a free trade agreement between the bloc and Canada besides the RCEPand other regional cooperative framework.
The ministry has directed trade offices andrelevant units to apply measures to boost exports of Vietnamese key products toCanada, he said.
Apart from long-term strategies, businessesshould make use of commitments and incentives from the signed agreements suchas the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership(CPTPP) and the RCEP to promote exports to Canada, the minister added.
Over the past twodecades, Canada has been one of the leading providers of development assistancefor Vietnam.
Canada considers Vietnam a priority partner inAsia in its global market action plan, international education strategy, anddevelopment assistance policy.
The two countries have also closely work atmultilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations, the Asia-Pacific EconomicCooperation (APEC) Forum, and the International Organization ofFrancophone (IOF).-VNA
VNA
