Good afternoon.
On behalf of the Canada Vietnam Society, I would like to thank the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade for inviting me to speak as a witness. The Canada Vietnam Society is a non-profit organization with a mission to build a strong Vietnamese Canadian community to promote trade, education and people-to-people links for the benefit of all Canadians. Our society has member associations, which include the Canada-Vietnam Trade Council, student associations and cultural and sport groups across Canada.
My opening statement will focus on the importance of Vietnam for Canadian businesses, not only in ASEAN but in the Indo-Pacific overall.
My first point is that Vietnam matters to Canada because Vietnam has been Canada's largest trading partner in ASEAN since 2015. Bilateral trade between Canada and Vietnam was $9 billion in 2020. That's up from $8 billion in 2019, despite the pandemic.
Trade diversification is important to Canada. Canada needs to build strong relationships with other Asian countries beyond China. ASEAN is an important trading bloc of 10 nations. It has a total population of 660 million and a combined GDP of $5 trillion, representing the world's fifth-largest economy. ASEAN is Canada's sixth-largest trading partner. In 2020, Canadian trade with ASEAN was $33 billion.
ASEAN is at the centre of Asia's regional security. Within ASEAN, Vietnam is not only an important trading partner but also an important security partner as Canada considers its Indo-Pacific strategy. Vietnam and Canada are both committed to multilateralism, global security and combatting climate change.
From a war-torn and impoverished nation in 1975, Vietnam became a lower middle-income country in 2010. With a current population of 100 million, Vietnam's economy grew an average of 7% for five years after 2015. While most of the world's economy shrank during the pandemic, Vietnam's economy grew an average of almost 3% over the last two years. Vietnam is expected to be an upper middle-income country by 2030, and a high-income developed country by 2045. Canadian companies stand to benefit in the education, technological, agricultural, clean energy and aerospace industries, among others.
Here is my second point. Canada should consider tapping into Vietnam's network of free trade agreements. Vietnam has 15 free trade agreements in force, including with the European Union, the United Kingdom and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP for short. The RCEP consists of 10 ASEAN nations, plus Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. Taken together, Vietnam's free trade agreements encompass 60 economies that represent 90% of the worlds GDP.
Here is my third point. Canada and Vietnam have had a long-standing diplomatic relationship since 1973. Next year marks the 50th anniversary of that relationship. Both are members of the United Nations, la Francophonie and the CPTPP. The Canada-Vietnam partnership agreement was signed by both governments in 2017. In 2019, Vietnam became one of the top five source countries for international students in Canada.
Canada opened a military attaché office in Vietnam in 2020. Last January, the Canada-Vietnam joint economic committee was established. Earlier this month, Canada's foreign affairs minister made an official visit to Vietnam and discussed, among other issues, the launching of the Canada-ASEAN free trade negotiations.
Vietnam plays a major role in the Indo-Pacific region. The United States, Japan and India have already recognized this reality. This is why they have strong relationships and partnerships with Vietnam.
In closing, I urge you to consider—