The Canadian government has added Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, into the country’s list of 13 priority markets for coming years, Janet Chater, who is in charge of trade relations with Southeast Asia at the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, told a recent workshop on Vietnam-Canada business cooperation in Toronto.

Economic-trade ties between Canada and Vietnam saw developments in recent years, with two-way trade reaching at 1.3 billion CAD (almost 1.3 billion USD) in 2008, Chater said.

Canada exported goods worth 317 million CAD to Vietnam in 2008 and became the southeast Asian nation’s 10 largest investor with total registered capital of 4.2 billion CAD, she added.

The workshop, jointly held by the Vietnamese Embassy in Canada, the Ocean Packer and Canson Canada drew the participation of representatives from nearly 50 Canadian firms, including GEO Express International and Nova Scotia bank.

Participants discussed Vietnam’s economic potential and shared experience in doing business in the country.

They highly spoke of business climate in Vietnam, hailing its economic development, “Doi moi” (renewal) policy as well as policy adjustments of the Vietnamese government to cope with the global crisis.

Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Duc Hung introduced the country’s projects calling for investment and foreign investment incentives as well as prospects for cooperation between Vietnamese and Canadian businesses.

He stressed that bilateral trade has not met potential despite recent increase. He asked Canadian firms to boost trade and investment promotion, seize opportunities for business and cooperation with Vietnamese partners, thus contributing to enhancing the bilateral ties.