Vietnam boosts trade cooperation with Canada and Singapore within CPTPP

Dien was speaking during his separate meetings with Canadian Minister of International Trade Mary Ng and Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong on the sidelines of the CPTPP Commission meeting in Vancouver on November 28.

During the meeting with the Canadian Minister, the two sides focused discussions on strengthening diplomatic and trading ties, developing their economic partnership, and boosting the Vietnam-Canada comprehensive partnership.

Dien appreciated Canadian efforts and coordinatingrole in promoting CPTPP activities, thereby helping linkages to become increasingly dynamic and attractive to economies that are keen to participate.

Vietnam stands ready to work alongside Canada and other members in all activities in order to bring benefits to both people and businesses, while also helping to elevate the CPTPP and make it more effective in regional and global trade, affirmed Dien.

Regarding bilateral ties, the two ministers reviewed the activities of the Canada-Vietnam Joint Economic Committee (JEC) in which Vietnam has asked Canada to closely co-ordinate to implement the contents of the declaration on trade and investment facilitation andenergy transition in response to climate change.

Vietnamese exports to Canada have increased sharply since the CPTPP came into effect. During the first 10 months of 2024, two-way trade between the two countries increased by 15%, reaching nearly US$6 billion.

Vietnam is currently the largest trading partner for Canada in ASEAN and represents one of the economies with the highest economic growth that can bring trade and investment opportunities to Canadian firms.

Dien also expressed concern regarding the increasing frequency of trade defence cases against Vietnamese goods in the Canadian market. He also requested that Canada strictly comply with relevant regulations set bythe World Trade Organization (WTO) and international practices, thereby creating conditions for Vietnam to provide information, documents, and express opinions in cases.

Meanwhile, during his meeting with the Singaporean official, Dien highly appreciated Singapore’s role as an extremely important economic, trade, and investment partner for Vietnam.

He shared that the two sides need to continue promoting deep and comprehensive cooperation,thereby creating a foundation for the two governments to consider upgrading the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

He requested that Singapore consider increasing the import of Vietnamese goods, especially processed agricultural products, seafood, and food.

The two sides agreed to effectively implement the Memorandum of Understanding on economic and trade cooperation plans, and to promote cross-border e-commerce between the two countries.

They also agreed to closely work together to improvethe effectiveness of the implementation of the CPTPP cooperation framework.

At this CPTPP meeting, Vietnam proposed the establishment of a Secretariat for the cooperation framework and received support from most CPTPP members.

The members also supported Costa Rica to join the CPTPP and agreed to start the negotiation process for this country's accession.

The CPTPP is a free trade agreement between 11 countries, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore, and Vietnam. The trade deal was officially signed by member countries in March 2018, and took effect for Vietnam in January 2019.