According to Tran Thu Quynh, Commercial Counselor of the Vietnam Trade Office in Canada, there are many favorable opportunities for Vietnam-Canada trade development. In the purchasing strategy of Canadian partners, Vietnam appears to be a potential market for its stability, predictability, and reasonable prices.

At the end of 2022, Canada officially announced its Indo-Pacific strategy, which positions ASEAN as the center of the region, expresses the wish to sign a Canada-ASEAN free trade agreement, and enhances the relationship with ASEAN to a strategic partnership.

With this strategy, Vietnam has some obvious advantages. Firstly, Vietnam is considered by most Canadian businesses as a gateway to enter the region thanks to its advantages in geographical location, infrastructure, labor, and socio-political stability.

Secondly, both Vietnam and Canada are members of the CPTPP and APEC, especially the two countries that have soon established a mechanism of the Joint Economic Committee to periodically exchange views on economic and trade cooperation prospects.

Vietnamese workers in a factory. (Photo: Thoi Dai)

On the other hand, the Vietnamese community in Canada currently has about 300,000 people, which is the 4th largest Asian community in Canada. Overseas Vietnamese have successfully integrated into the Canadian society and are attached to the homeland. Especially, the increasing number of Vietnamese students in Canada has served as a bridge in culture, art, cuisine, economics, and commerce.

Recently, the two countries have put into operation a large container direct ship route running from Hai Phong to Vancouver, reducing the transit time to 17 days and significantly saving transportation costs for Vietnamese exporters.

According to information from the Vietnam Trade Office in Canada, Vietnam's strong exports to Canada include seafood, tea, coffee and spices, textiles, footwear, joinery, and furniture.

In particular, for textiles, by the end of November 2022, the export turnover of the HS 61 code group has reached USD 892 million, increasing 47.7% compared to the same period last year, while the HS 62 group has reached USD 745 million, increasing 52.5%. Canadian market witnessed higher demand for these two product codes with an increase of 33% over the same period in 2021.

It is expected that this year, the demand of the Canadian market will exceed the highest level in Canada's import history achieved in 2019 of USD 4.7 billion.

For footwear products, by the end of November 2022, the export turnover of the HS 64 code group reached USD 762 million, increasing 49.3% over the same period last year. The year 2022 marks the recovery of Vietnam's leather and footwear exports to Canada and highlights the positive effects that the CPTPP has brought since 2018. Compared to other competitors such as Italy and Cambodia, Vietnam has a lot of potential to attract new orders.

The Vietnam Luncheon Roundtable was organized in December 2022 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo: Vietnam Trade Office in Canada)

Despite those bright spots, Quynh also said that in the general context, the Canadian economy in 2023 will be affected by many negative impacts from the global market and consumption continued to be tightened. Besides, Canada's trade policy creates many challenges for businesses exporting to this market.

To support businesses of the two countries to strengthen connectivity and trade exchange, in 2023, the Vietnam Trade Office in Canada will focus on a number of key trade promotion activities. Specifically, they will continue to support businesses to exploit the advantages brought by the CPTPP, increase the export of strong products to the market by organizing delegations to return home to buy goods; conduct online trade promotion, seminars on taking advantage of free trade agreements that Vietnam and Canada have a membership.

According to Quynh, the year 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Canada and Vietnam and the 5th anniversary of implementing the CPTPP. The Vietnam Trade Office in Canada will strive to make the best use of this year to further promote the business environment in Vietnam. At the same time, it will introduce the potential of cooperation to connect production, investment, technology, and branding between the two countries to create a higher value chain.

The deal will also focus on introducing opportunities for Government procurement, public-private cooperation abroad, and service export for Vietnamese businesses. A bilingual portal will also be launched to provide timely market information for businesses of the two countries.

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