Canada-ASEAN Business Council highlights cooperation potential with Vietnam
The Canada-ASEAN Business Council (CABC) has urged Canada to secure its economic interests with Vietnam as a key tenet of Canada’s evolving Indo-Pacific strategy, according to an article on Business in Vancouver weekly newspaper.
The article posted on Business in Vancouver weekly newspaper (Photo: screenshot
Ottawa (VNA) - The Canada-ASEAN Business Council (CABC) has urgedCanada to secure its economic interests with Vietnam as a key tenet of Canada’sevolving Indo-Pacific strategy, according to an article on Business inVancouver weekly newspaper.
The article titled “Vietnam should play a major part inCanada’s Indo-Pacific strategy” was written by Geoff Donald, the CABC’sadvocacy chair and managing director at Asia Engagement Consulting Group.
According to him, with a rapidly growing population that isexpected to reach 120 million by 2050 and a strong GDP forecast of 6.5 percentgrowth in 2021, Vietnam is a high-potential market for Canadian companiesespecially in key industries such as agro-food.
Since 2015, Vietnam has been Canada’s largest tradingpartner in Southeast Asia with two-way trade reaching a record 11.2 billion CAD(9.2 billion USD) in 2020. With the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Canadian and Vietnamese exporters andinvestors now enjoy increased market access and tariff reduction in a rules-basedtrading environment.
Two-way trade has increased by 12 percent over 2019 and by37 percent compared with 2018, when the CPTPP began to take effect.
Canada’s and Vietnam’s commitment to multilateral tradethrough the CPTPP and critical new opportunities such as a potentialCanada-ASEAN free trade agreement positions Vietnam as an essential partner forCanada in the decades ahead, the author affirmed
As Canada looks to develop an Indo-Pacific strategy, theCABA urges public policymakers and business leaders to prioritise thisrelationship by increasing support to small and mid-size enterprises looking totake advantage of the CPTPP; expanding Canada-Vietnam business collaborationsin high-growth sectors such as agro-food, aerospace, infrastructure, financialservices and digital economy; and negotiating a Canada-ASEAN free tradeagreement to increase the overall opportunities for Canada in Southeast Asia.
The CABC acts as the voice of the Canadian private sector inASEAN, and its members, including many of Canada’s leading firms such asManulife, have a significant and longstanding presence in Vietnam, and manymore companies are following suit./.
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The article posted on Business in Vancouver weekly newspaper (Photo: screenshot 
