Ottawa (VNA) –Vietnam and Canada held the first meeting of the Joint Economic Committee inVancouver on July 6 with a view to helping lift bilateral economic ties to anew level and intensify the two countries’ comprehensive partnership.

The event was co-chaired byVietnam’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai and Canada’sDeputy Minister of International Trade David Morrison.

The two sides discussed challengesto and opportunities for bilateral trade and investment amid economic andpolitical uncertainties, the shift of global supply chains, and post-pandemicmarket diversification and economic recovery trends in the world.

Morrison affirmed that hiscountry attaches importance to Vietnam, which has been its largest tradingpartner in ASEAN since 2015. Bilateral trade has still grown amid the COVID-19pandemic, hitting a record of 10.5 billion CAD (8 billion USD) in 2021.

The establishment of theJoint Economic Committee reflected Canada’s readiness to enhance and diversifyeconomic links with the key partners in the Indo-Pacific region, he said,adding that his country wishes to further promote the ties with Vietnam through thisnew mechanism, which matches its commitment to boost its engagement in theIndo-Pacific and the two countries’ common vision for this region, with ASEANat the centre.

The officials also noted the vigorousgrowth of the bilateral trade and investment since the Comprehensive and ProgressiveAgreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) took effect in 2019 despite thepandemic’s impacts.

The deal has created a bigopportunity for Canadian products in the Vietnamese market, especially in the foodprocessing and fisheries sectors. Vietnamese goods’ accessibility to the NorthAmerican market has also been improved as seen in a record export value of 9.8billion CAD last year.

However, they held that tradeand investment cooperation has yet to be on par with potential and still needsto be fostered.

Both sides agreed to makejoint efforts to diversify and expand trade by facilitating the export of goodsand services as well as investment flows.

Meetings of the JointEconomic Committee are held biennially on a rotational basis, but the next sessionwill be held in Vietnam in 2023 as prompted by the need of the acceleration of the bilateral economic relations in the current context.

Also on July 6, theVietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Global Affairs Canada held abusiness forum in Vancouver.

Deputy Minister Hai said withtheir goods structures and advantages complementary to each other along withthe favourable conditions created by the two governments, there remains much room forbilateral trade and investment to develop.

He expressed his belief thatVietnam will be a “firm bridge” helping Canada successfully carry out the tradediversification strategy in the Asia-Pacific, and in return Canada will helpVietnam boost trade with partners in North America and the Americas as a whole.

Morrison, an honorary guestat the forum, said thanks to efforts to step up trade and investment promotion,businesses and workers of both countries will further benefit from new supplychains and market diversification./.