CPTPP boosts Vietnamese exports to Canada, Mexico

Exports to Canada and Mexico have grown well since the CPTPP took effect in January 2019

Exports to Canada and Mexico

Nguyen Cam Trang, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Agency of Foreign Trade, said Vietnam’s exports to CPTPP markets grew 7.2 percent in the 2019-2021 period, while the country’s total export value grew 8.4 percent in the same period.

Apart from Vietnam, only six countries, including Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and Mexico, have ratified the CPTPP, which aims to promote trade among member countries representing close to 13.4 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).

In 2019, Vietnam’s exports to these six countries totaled US$34.3 billion, up 8.1 percent from the previous year. The country’s exports to Canada and Mexico grew 29 and 26.2 percent, respectively, while those to Japan and New Zealand increased eight percent and those to Singapore 0.3 percent.

In 2020, Vietnam’s exports to Canada reached US$4.4 billion, up 12 percent from 2019, while the country’s export value in the same year increased seven percent over 2019. Vietnam’s machinery and mobile phone exports to Canada grew 62 percent, while the country’s bamboo, rattan ware, sedge, computer, confectionery, and means of transport exports to this market increased 25 percent, and wood product, vegetable, toy and sports equipment exports soared 15 percent. Vietnam’s exports to Mexico increased 19 percent in the 2019-2020 period, with those experiencing a high growth including machinery, equipment, tools, spare parts, and telephones. Toys, sports equipment, bag, purse and suitcase exports to Mexico grew 32-35 percent.

Cooperation in CPTPP implementation

According to Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, Director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (VCCI) WTO (World Trade Organization) and Integration Center, the CPTPP implementation efficiency was assessed based on 2019 data because Vietnamese and world economies were affected badly by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. In 2019, while almost all CPTPP partners reduced imports, the fact that Vietnam still achieved export growth was attributed to the CPTPP implementation.

Nguyen Tuan, Director of the Investment and Trade Promotion Center of Ho Chi Minh City, said the city worked with related units to build and implement plans for international integration promotion in the city, focusing on FTAs that Vietnam signed, especially the CPTPP and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). The center organized intensive training in information technology (IT), import and export management and international integration for businesses.

The industry and trade sector has taken the initiative in contacting Vietnamese trade offices abroad to help Vietnamese businesses look for new markets and expand market shares, while providing businesses with market and law-related information to help them boost exports to CPTPP countries.