Since 2015, Vietnam has maintained its position as Canada's largest tradingpartner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, she said.
Tradeturnover between Canada and Vietnam exceeded 6 billion USD last year, up 19percent compared to 2020.
Accordingto Professor Nguyen, trade diversification is important for the Canadianeconomy and drives the need for Ottawa to build strong relationships with Asiancountries.
ASEAN- a trading bloc with a total population of 700 million and GDP of up to 5trillion CAD - is currently Canada's sixth largest trading partner.
Bilateral tradebetween Canada and ASEAN reached 26.7 billion CAD in 2020, while services tradeamounted to 5.8 billion CAD, she said, adding that these figures are expectedto grow inthe context that Canada has permanent diplomatic missions in all 10 ASEANmember countries.
Nguyenaffirmed that Vietnam will be an important security partner in Canada'sIndo-Pacific strategy, as both countries are committed to multilateralism,global security and combating climate change. She suggested that Canada couldconsider joining Vietnam's network of free trade agreements, which currentlycover 60 economies representing 90 percent of the world's GDP.
Duringthe hearing on trade opportunities for Canadian businesses in the Indo-Pacific,she also reiterated the fundamental factors of the long-standing relationshipbetween Canada and Vietnam. Both countries are members of the FrancophonieCommunity and participating in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), she said.
The Comprehensive Partnership Agreement between Vietnam and Canada was signedin 2017, and Vietnam has become one of the five top countries sendingstudents to Canada since 2019.
Talkingto the Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Ottawa, Nguyen - who is alsoDirector of the Canada - Vietnam Trade Council, said she believes thatcooperation between the two countries will continue to develop in all fields,especially trade, when Canada realises the growing importance of Vietnam andthe Indo-Pacific region to the supply chain, and the long-term economic growthof Canada.
Inthe coming time, more events will be organised by the council aiming to provideinformation and facilitate trade and investment exchanges between the twocountries, she said./.