General Director of the Viet Nam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) Le Tien Truong delivered this statement during a workshop held in the Canadian city of Montreal on Thursday.

The event was organised as part of a trip by officials of Vinatex and its five member companies to Canada to promote their textile and garment exports to the nation. It also attracted representatives of 35 Canadian enterprises.

According to Truong, total textile-garment demand in member nations of the CPTPP, which gathered 11 members with a combined population of 500 million, was estimated at US$83 billion annually. In 2018, Viet Nam’s textile-garment exports to CPTPP markets were $5.3 billion, making up 6.3 per cent of the market.

Canada’s demand for textile-garment products was worth some $13-14 billion each year, only 5 per cent of which was provided by Viet Nam, Truong said, adding that there was room for Vietnamese exporters to accelerate their exports to Canada, especially as both countries had ratified the CPTPP.

He said all businesses had the opportunity to enjoy a better tariff policy if they satisfy rules of origin. Therefore, Vinatex has organised trade promotion activities in 2018 and 2019 to meet with Canadian importers.

At the workshop, David Ostroff, President of David O International, agreed there remained huge co-operation potential for the two countries thanks to Viet Nam's competitive prices and its organised and effective businesses.

Notably, Canada could access the Vietnamese market with a tariff rate of zero per cent, especially important with the Canadian dollar weak internationally. This was the right time for Viet Nam to enter the Canadian market, he said.

The CPTPP, which took effect in Viet Nam on January 14, was expected to boost exports of Vietnamese textile and garment products to Canada as 42.9 per cent of the shipments of these products to the market would enjoy an import tariff of zero per cent in the first year the deal comes into force. — VNS