Canada sees strong rise in agro-food exports to Vietnam

Canada has achieved a remarkable increase in its agro-food exports to Vietnam, said a senior trade commissioner at the Canadian consulate general in HCM City.
Nadin Nanji demonstrated that Canada’s agro-food exports to Vietnam last year jumped to US$69 million, a stark increase from US$17 million in 2004. He provided the Daily with this figure before the launch reception for “The Great Taste of Canada” – a food promotion featuring the gastronomic quality ingredients of the North American country.

Nanji said the Canadian consulate organized the event to introduce a variety of seafood including live lobster, geoduck, oysters, Dungeness crab, mussels and scallops, as well as Alberta beef, wines and cherries. He added that the Canadian menu would be offered to the public at the Reflections Restaurant of the Caravelle Hotel from September 15 to 25.

Canadian consul general Audri Mukhopadhyay told the reception on Wednesday evening that agro-food accounted for a major part of Canada’s exports to Vietnam.

Canada’s two-way merchandise trade with Vietnam has increased steadily over the past decade, and now stands more than four times greater than in 2000. Nanji said the Canada-Vietnam bilateral trade reached an all-time high of more than US$1.43 billion in 2010, with that country’s exports registering over US$264 million.

Last year saw Canada’s merchandise imports from Vietnam exceed US$1.17 billion worth of textiles, manufactured articles, footwear, machinery and mechanical appliances, and animal products.

Nanji said besides agro-food and agriculture, Canadian companies had found opportunities in other sectors in Vietnam, including education and training, forestry, information and communication technologies (ICT), machinery and mechanical appliances, and base metals.
Saigon Times Daily

Tags: Vietnam Canada trade