Hundreds of businesses, mostly Vietnamese Canadians, attended the event.
In his opening address, Nguyen Quang Trung, consul general of Vietnam in Vancouver, briefed participants on Vietnam’s recent socio-economic developments, especially its initial success in containing the COVID-19 pandemic and rebooting the economy.
Pomelo is one of potential Vietnamese fruits to be exported to Canada.
He said the government’s economic recovery efforts brought about encouraging results, with the country’s GDP growth expanding by 8.02% last year, far exceeding the set target and the highest growth rate in the region as well as in the past 11 years.
Participants raised a range of questions concerning the business climate in Vietnam.
Robert King, an expert of Ernst & Young in Vietnam, talked about Vietnam’s tax policy, noting the tariffs there are currently the lowest compared to ASEAN countries. He encouraged Canadian businesses to invest in Vietnam supported by the country’s geographical location, investment incentives and benefits from a number of free trade agreements it has signed.
Tran Thu Quynh, head of the Vietnamese Trade Office in Canada, talked about Vietnam’s strengths in attracting investment, including e-commerce, and affirmed that the Vietnamese Trade Office in Canada will support Canadian businesses to invest in Vietnam to the maximum.
The workshop also saw representatives of HSBC and Felix share experience in applying cashless payment in transactions, thereby supporting Canadian firms in doing business in Vietnam.
Vietnam is one of Canada’s leading trading partner in Southeast Asia. Despite global economic recession, two-way trade between Vietnam and Canada hit CAD10.5 billion in 2021 and CAD11 billion in 2022.
This year the two countries will celebrate 50 years of their diplomatic ties.
