Vietnam: Fastest-growing ASEAN trade partner of Canada

Vietnam exports to Canada for 2015 surpassed US$4.1 billion, while imports from the north American country tallied in at roughly US$700 million, according to Canadian trade statistics.  

Official Canadian statistics for the first three quarters of 2016 showed that the robust trade carried over into 2016 with total exports of Vietnam tallying in at US$2.757 billion and imports US$350 million for total commercial trade of US$3.107 billion.

The leading exports of Vietnam to Canada were clothing and textiles, footwear, seafood, furniture, spices, cashew nuts, and sporting equipment. Vietnam imports from Canada consisted primarily of wheat, seafood, vegetables and fertilizers along with high-end Canadian clothing, leather and fur products.

Hoang Anh Dung, trade counsellor to Canada, crunched the numbers and calculated that Vietnam obtained export growth of 14.8% to Canada while other ASEAN countries experienced negative export growth.

Per Mr Dung’s computations – Thailand exports dipped 2.6%, Indonesia exports were down 9.3%, while those of Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines fell 7.7%, 6.1%, 11.1%, respectively.