HÀ NỘI — A conference was held in Toronto, Canada on Monday to help small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country study the Vietnamese market and take advantage of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Addressing the event, themed “CPTPP: Việt Nam”, Canadian Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion Mary Ng affirmed the significance of the relationship between Canada and Việt Nam, two members of the CPTPP, as well as the position of Việt Nam as the largest trade partner of Canada in ASEAN.
The minister said that the Việt Nam-Canada partnership is strong, expressing her hope to connect businesses of the two sides to promote two-way trade.
She said the Canadian side can fund its enterprises’ activities to research the market and join trade fairs to seek business opportunities in Việt Nam.
Statistics showed that in 2018, Canada exported 1.02 billion CAD (US$776.22 million) worth of goods to Việt Nam, while importing 5.38 billion CAD worth of commodities from the country.
Jay Allen, deputy head of the CPTPP negotiation team of Canada, highlighted the strengths of the Vietnamese market, including the strategic position in Southeast Asia, young population, and high GDP growth of more than 6 percent annually since 2014.
Allen said cooperation opportunities between the two countries are abundant in agriculture, aquatic farming, infrastructure, green technology and ICT.
Meanwhile, Nguyễn Đài Trang, Director of the Canada-Việt Nam Trade Council, said since the CPTPP was ratified, Canadian firms have paid greater attention to Việt Nam.
She revealed that the council will introduce the Vietnamese market to Canadian businesses through the organisation of and participation in events, while also helping delegations study the Vietnamese market.
Canada is the only country in the G7 that shares trade agreements with all members of the group.
The Canadian business community is interested in various Vietnamese products, especially farm produce such as pork, beef, chicken and fresh fruit. — VNS