Photo for illustration. (Source: VNA)

The event, bringing together more than 100 firms of the two countries, provided the participants with updates on Vietnam’s business climate and chances for Canada’s timber firms, and helped businesses of the two countries connect and study markets.

Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Canada Pham Cao Phong underlined the main factors that turn Vietnam into an attractive destination, including its strategic location in the centre of Southeast Asia, and efforts in strengthening legal framework and institutions.

It is also a promising consumption market with a population of more than 96 million, with half under age 35, he added.

The Vietnamese diplomat said it is a challenging time yet a major opportunity to bolster cooperation and bilateral economic-trade development, towards a common target of sustainable growth and prosperity for the two countries, in the spirit of the comprehensive partnership set up three years ago.

Vietnam may become a bridge for Canadian goods and services to access 660 million consumers in ASEAN, as well as other important markets in the region.

At the same time, Canada can serve as a gateway for Vietnamese products to penetrate other markets in America.

Under the CPTPP, Vietnam’s home décor products enjoy zero percent tariffs when entering Canada, while tariffs of 6-9 percent are imposed on products of other Asian countries.

Vietnam-Canada trade recorded a slight growth of 0.1 percent in the first half of this year, while global trade plummeted.

In 2019, Vietnam, Canada’s fifth largest Asian trade partner, imported timber worth about 25 million USD from Canada. It was also the fourth leading home interior products supplier of the North American country./.

BTA