Vietnamese Ambassador to Canada Pham Cao Phong (centre) speaks at the event. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Canada increasedby 12.8 percent last year and 28.5 percent in the first seven months of thisyear, reflecting a reliable and complementary trading partnership, VietnameseAmbassador to Canada Pham Cao Phong has said.

Hemade the statement at a seminar entitled “Vietnam-Canada Supply Chains Cooperation:Present and Future” held in both virtual and in-person forms on October 15.  It aimed to explore opportunities to fostercollaboration between Vietnamese and Canadian companies in supply chains in the current and post-COVID era.

TheVietnamese diplomat said the friendship and the growing cooperativerelationship between Vietnam and Canada provide a firm  foundation for a reliableand sustainable supply chain.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership(CPTPP), of which Vietnam and Canada are founding members, offers taxincentives for trading in both consumer goods and raw materials. This factorcreates favourable conditions for trade, providing goods, services andmaterials for production lines in the context of the turbulent global economicenvironment, ensuring human and economic security of the two countries, Phongsaid.

Echoed the opinion of Phong, Senator Victor Oh emphasised that although theCOVID-19 pandemic has severely affected global trade, statistics show trade ties between Vietnam and Canada remain firm, proving that there are still growth opportunities to explore. Since2015, Vietnam has been Canada's largest trading partner in ASEAN. Canada hasremoved 94 percent of the total tariff lines on goods importing from Vietnam withinthe framework of CPTPP, and Vietnam has abolished 66 percent of tariff lines on Canadian goods. 

JayAllen, Executive Director forthe Trade Policy and Negotiations – Asia Division at Global Affairs Canada (GAC) said the CPTPP is agreat success for businesses as well as consumers in Vietnam and Canada. Giventhe two countries' deep ties, trade cooperation has just begun, he said.

Ambassador Phong recommended that in order to adapt to the new normal situation in the post-COVID-19 period, businesses of the two countriesneed to further discuss the establishment of a commongovernance support centre, the B2B model ( transaction conducting between two companies), research and development (R&D), after-salesservice, digitisation and digital security.
 
With a GDP growth rate of 1.42 percentin the first nine months of this year, Vietnam is an attractive destination forinvestment and business activities thanks to its political and macroeconomicstability as well as dynamic and abundant human resources.

As a founding member of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Vietnam can act as a bridgefor Canadian businesses to reach amarket of 2.2 billion people, or almost 30 percent of the world's population,with a combined GDP of 26.2 trillion USD or about 30 percent of global GDP. Inthe opposite direction, Canada can be a door for Vietnamese goods to p𒀰enetratethe US and Mexican markets - members of the new North American Free TradeAgreement./.