At the meeting, Ambassador Pham Cao Phong said that the economic cooperation relationship between Vietnam and Canada has been elevated. The growth rate of two-way trade turnover between the two countries increased by more than 28% in the first nine months of 2021 despite the negative impacts caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Seafood, materials and components, leather and footwear, and textiles are among Vietnam’s main export items to this market.

Canada is currently interested in a number of areas, such as developing small and medium-sized enterprises, and women-owned enterprises. Vietnam can prompt initiatives to promote cooperation and connect the business communities of the two sides to attract investment from Canada, said Ambassador Pham Cao Phong.

In addition, Mr. Phong emphasized that Canada is focusing on promoting multilateral cooperation. In recent years, Canada and ASEAN have worked together to diversify trade and economic cooperation. Both countries are also members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Ambassador Phong also wished to receive suggestions from VCCI about the investment needs of the Vietnamese business community to further expand business ties between the two countries.

VCCI President Pham Tan Cong said that currently, cooperation between Vietnamese and Canadian businesses is still modest. In addition to traditional fields such as fisheries, textiles, and agriculture, the VCCI President suggested that a connection program between the ASEAN-Vietnam business community be built in digital transformation in support of women-led businesses and SMEs.

VCCI President Cong said that VCCI would implement three strategic breakthroughs in the coming time, namely building a favorable business environment; fostering digital transformation for businesses, and building business culture in Vietnam. In particular, supporting digital transformation in businesses is a strong focus of VCCI and will be deployed immediately.

VCCI will always support the Embassy in providing market intelligence, connecting business partners to promote trade and investment cooperation between the two countries in the new context, VCCI President Cong affirmed.