Canada and Vietnam’s bilateral relations have developed and strengthened for over 40 years. To learn more about the achievements and prospects for the cooperation between the two countries, Vietnam Business Forum interviewed H.E David Devine, Ambassador of Canada to Vietnam. Nguyen Mai reports.
As a new Ambassador to Vietnam, how would you feel about Vietnam and the people?
Let me start by wishing all of your readers the very best for a healthy and happy 2015. I have now been living in Vietnam for over a year and I can say with certainty that Vietnam is one of the most vibrant and beautiful countries I have been to. I have been fortunate to visit many provinces and find the people of Vietnam to be hard working and passionate about their future. I have made many good friends here, and it has given me great pleasure to work with so many motivated individuals from local organisations and government agencies. I only have high expectations for the remainder of my term as the Canadian Ambassador to Vietnam.
In your new term, what do you plan to do to strengthen the already fine relations between Vietnam and Canada?
Canada and Vietnam’s bilateral relations have developed and strengthened for over 40 years. Our countries just recently signed a Letter of Intent during the recent visit to Canada by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh. The Letter of Intent will help us to further our cooperation in many areas ranging from political to trade to development and education, as well as in the promotion and protection of human rights.
People-to-people links remain at the core of the relationship between our countries. Canada is home to 250,000 Vietnamese-Canadians. Many Canadians of Vietnamese origin are returning to Vietnam to live or establish businesses here. I believe people-to-people exchanges between Canada and Vietnam are vital to building mutual understanding and trust between our two peoples so that our relationship can realize its full potential.
Canada is also welcoming more and more Vietnamese students. I want to work toward doubling the current number of nearly 4,000 Vietnamese students studying in Canada, and hope that Canada will be a destination of choice for Vietnamese students in the future. I also hope to see more Canadians come to Vietnam to do business.
Since my arrival, I have travelled to many parts of Vietnam to explore potential cooperation. I will continue to do this. Recently I returned to Canada and during a trip across the country, I visited and spoke to many educational executives and institutions, government ministries and corporations about opportunities in Vietnam.
Finally, we have a strong development programme in Vietnam, which focuses on good governance, sustainable economic growth and food security. We will continue to share our best practices and experience in building a law-governed state with Vietnam, responding to Vietnam’s efforts to improve the business environment and support agricultural competitiveness, as well as promoting human rights and equality, which we see as the foundation of every sound society and prosperity for all nations.
How do you think the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will benefit Vietnam and Canada once it is signed?
Canada values its trade relationship with Vietnam and welcomes the Vietnamese government’s desire to enhance economic relations between our countries. We view our trade relations as highly complementary, where both countries may benefit from the competitive advantages of each other. Bilateral trade between the two countries has continued to increase over the past decade; it is now more than 10 times greater than in 2000, reaching an all-time high in 2013 with US$2.5 billion. Canada has taken concrete actions in order to support our efforts towards enhanced economic relations with the identification of Vietnam as a priority market under the Global Market Action Plan and the International Education Strategy. This makes Vietnam a country of focus in terms of trade promotion and education linkages. Although we are pleased with our growing bilateral commercial relations, we also believe that there is much room left to grow merchandise trade, investment and partnerships.
Furthermore, the relationship between Canada and Vietnam is grounded in a number of important institutions and mechanisms, from our common membership in hemispheric and international organizations such as APEC, the WTO, the United Nations, the Francophonie, and Canada’s role as a Dialogue partner of ASEAN, to our joint participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. I strongly believe that the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations will provide further opportunities to increase bilateral trade between Canada and Vietnam. Vietnamese exports to Canada count for approximately 85 percent of the bilateral trade and we have every reason to believe that Vietnamese exports to Canada will continue to grow, particularly as our countries reach new levels of commercial integration.
What do you think about Vietnam’s ongoing restructuring of its economy in the period 2011-2015?
Vietnam has achieved good results over the past few years in stabilizing its macro economy. It has achieved success in tackling inflation and controlling the trade deficit for example. It is recognized as one of the world’s fastest growing economies. The reforms currently underway in the banking system to fill in regulatory gaps and address the issues of non-performing loans and transparency, as well as the restructuring of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), will be key in moving forward. Canada is pleased to be able to support Vietnam’s efforts in these areas. As we have heard during the Vietnam Business Forum, concerns remain, however, in key areas of Vietnam’s economy. For example, the shifting of the growth model and the SOE reform, particularly in improving corporate governance and moving towards greater transparency. During the forum, Prime Minister Dung highlighted the Government’s objectives for 2015.
It is critical that the government continue its dialogue with the private sector as they tackle challenges. I would say that, in order to continue its encouraging economic progress, Vietnam is already doing many of the right things. It is trying to address key development challenges and improving economic competitiveness; the complex and burdensome legal and regulatory environment; the chronic shortage of skilled human resources; and an immature financial sector. By increasing competitiveness and creating a more level playing field for the private sector, Vietnam will be in a better position to generate job opportunities and increase government revenue for social programs which target the disadvantaged and the poor. We are encouraged by Vietnam’s commitment to tackling those challenging issues and pleased to contribute to their achievement.
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