Viet Nam, Canada strengthen agricultural trade and green growth

On January 6, Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang held a bilateral meeting with Mr. Randeep Sarai, Canada's Secretary of State for International Development. The meeting was attended by Canadian Ambassador to Viet Nam James Nickel, along with representatives of relevant agencies from both sides.

Viet Nam ready to open market to Canadian agricultural products

At the meeting, Minister Tran Duc Thang affirmed that Viet Nam - Canada relations have become increasingly close and dynamic, with cooperation in agriculture and the environment serving as key pillars.

The Minister expressed his sincere appreciation to the Government of Canada and the Canadian Embassy in Viet Nam for their close partnership and support for Viet Nam through numerous technical assistance, development, and humanitarian projects, particularly the timely assistance provided during Typhoon Yagi in 2024 and the severe floods in 2025.

The Minister also highly valued Canada’s practical contributions through flagship projects, noting that bilateral and multilateral cooperation projects between the two countries in recent years have delivered positive results, directly contributing to the goal of improving people’s livelihoods, especially for vulnerable groups.

Through the meeting, the Minister also emphasized that Viet Nam - Canada economic and trade relations have continued to record positive progress. In 2024, Viet Nam became Canada’s leading trading partner in ASEAN and Canada’s sixth-largest trading partner in the Indo-Pacific region.

“Viet Nam is ready to open its market to Canadian agricultural products, given the complementary nature and lack of direct competition between the two countries’ agricultural sectors,” the leader of the agriculture and environment sector affirmed.

Total bilateral import - export turnover in 2025 is estimated at around USD 9 billion. In the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector alone, bilateral trade still holds significant potential, reaching approximately USD 1.5 billion.

“Viet Nam hopes Canada will continue to share experience and provide technical support in areas where Canada has strengths, such as biosafety, food safety, digital transformation in supply chain management, agricultural product preservation and processing, sustainable forest management, and biodiversity restoration,” the Minister proposed.

Minister Tran Duc Thang reaffirmed Viet Nam’s goal of achieving “double-digit” economic growth, alongside parallel requirements for environmental protection, efficient exploitation and use of resources, and a transition toward a low-emissions development model.

Expanding cooperation on environment, energy and climate

Canada's Secretary of State for International Development Randeep Sarai expressed his pleasure at the warm and positive development of bilateral relations, emphasizing that recent high-level meetings between the two countries’ leaders have created important momentum for multi-sectoral cooperation.

He noted, “Canada always regards Viet Nam as a priority partner in development cooperation, humanitarian assistance, and trade promotion, especially in agriculture and food safety.” Canada is currently implementing and preparing a number of new projects aimed at delivering tangible benefits to farmers, businesses, and local communities.

Sharing further insights into ocean governance, the Canadian side noted that as a country with a long coastline, Canada has developed an effective system for managing and exploiting fisheries and marine resources. This includes strict control of fishing fleets and the prevention of overexploitation through the application of modern technologies in fisheries management and resource protection.

Regarding cooperation potential in clean energy, renewable energy, wind power, solar power, and energy transition, Canada is a highly experienced partner in clean energy development, marine economic management, and sustainable fisheries exploitation.

The two sides agreed to strengthen research and mutual learning on marine economic development and ocean governance, share knowledge on energy transition and clean energy technologies, landscape restoration, biodiversity conservation, as well as the sustainable extraction and processing of mineral resources.

In terms of specific cooperation directions, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment of Viet Nam is currently coordinating with Canada to develop a draft Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the fields of environment and climate, which will serve as a basis for the implementation of technical cooperation programs and projects in the coming period.