Vietnam is a gateway for Canadian businesses to access the ASEAN market of more than 600 million people.

To review the 5-year implementation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in the new context of the Indo-Pacific Strategy and towards the ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a workshop with the theme "Leveraging FTA to enter ASEAN: Industrial and technological opportunities for Canadian businesses in Vietnam" was recently held in British Columbia (Canada).

Việt Nam là cửa ngõ để các doanh nghiệp Canada tiếp cận thị trường hơn 600 triệu dân của ASEAN

Overview of the Workshop. (Source: Nhan Dan Newspaper)

The event, organized by the Trade Office and the Science and Technology Office of the Embassy of Vietnam in Canada in coordination with the Ministry of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation of British Columbia and the Canada-ASEAN Business Council, attracted the attention of many businesses in the West Coast of Canada as well as Vietnamese businesses doing business in Canada and many ministries and sectors of British Columbia.

This workshop is part of a series of events celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Trade Mission in Canada.

In his opening remarks, British Columbia Trade Minister Jagrup Brar said Canada has learned lessons about the value and importance of strengthening international cooperation as the global economy faces unprecedented uncertainty and impacts on businesses and supply chains. Strengthening ties with global partners like Vietnam is crucial.

Vietnam is part of ASEAN, the fastest growing economic region in the world and is the leading destination for Canadian goods and services among ASEAN countries thanks to an average economic growth rate of 7% over the past 30 years. Vietnam is being evaluated as a gateway for Canadian businesses wanting to access this market of 660 million customers.

Trade relations between Vietnam and the province of British Columbia have begun to regain momentum, with growth of 63% in 2022. British Columbia is also the top destination for Vietnamese businesses with 6 projects worth more than CAD 300 million. The province's forestry sector is benefiting from its relationship with Vietnam through the CPTPP, with softwood lumber exports increasing by nearly 60% over the past 5 years.

Consul General of Vietnam in British Columbia Nguyen Quang Trung assessed that the CPTPP, a trade bloc representing 500 million people with a total GDP of about CAD 13.5 trillion, has brought new opportunities for economic, trade and investment relations between the two sides. As members of this agreement, investors and exporters from Vietnam and Canada are benefiting from open market access and a regulated tariff reduction environment.

The concerns of Canadian businesses about the Vietnamese market were fully answered by the Commercial Counselor of the Vietnamese Embassy, Tran Thu Quynh. These were Vietnam's industrial investment attraction policy in comparison with ASEAN countries, Vietnam's advantages in the region in terms of energy infrastructure, telecommunications, e-commerce, seaports and especially Vietnam's strategic position in the trans-Pacific transport corridor.

Ms. Tran Thu Quynh said that British Columbia and Vietnam have great potential for cooperation in the industrial sector, especially in the fields of foundational and advanced industries in which both sides have strengths such as clean energy, electric vehicles and the automotive industry, artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors. British Columbia is a place with strengths in agriculture, forestry and essential minerals. This is a premise for the two sides to cooperate to exploit the combined origin and from there export to the CPTPP market or the market where Canada and ASEAN have FTAs.

The issue of potential cooperation, investment, science and technology transfer and the efforts of the Vietnamese Government in supporting technology companies were also analyzed quite thoroughly by Mr. Hoang Ngoc Dinh, Chief Representative of Vietnam Science and Technology in Canada.

Mr. Hoang Ngoc Dinh said that new technology fields such as renewable energy, semiconductor technology, mining and processing of essential metals or carbon capture are things that Vietnam is in great need of and Canada can meet.

These sectors not only help Canadian investors take advantage of the Vietnamese market but also make the most of the Canadian Government's support policies such as the Climate Fund or the Just Energy Transition Partnership Program...

Vietnam is emerging as an attractive and potential destination for investors and science and technology enterprises, especially after the event of Vietnam and the US upgrading their relationship to the level of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This is considered an opportunity for partners of both Canada and Vietnam to promote cooperation, take advantage of and exploit potential to soon become reliable and strategic partners in the fields of science and technology in the future.

At the workshop, President of the Vietnam Canadian Business Association and Director of Dan D Park Food Group, Mr. Dan On shared about his company's successes in Vietnam to inspire businesses in British Columbia to take advantage of the growing business prospects of Vietnam as well as the ASEAN region.

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