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Vietnam remains fourth largest wood furniture supplier to Canada

10/03/2023    654

Despite the import proportion of Vietnamese wood furniture only accounting for 15.3% of Canada’s total import value last year, Vietnam remains the fourth largest wood furniture supplier to the North American country, according to details given by the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Vietnamese import turnover of the product in the Canadian market reached US$411.9 million, a decline of 1.1% compared to 2021.

The Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association has assessed that there is a wealth of opportunities ahead for Vietnamese wood furniture to expand their market share in Canada in the near future.

Most notably, the enforcement of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has helped Canadian businesses to gain greater insights about Vietnamese production capacity.

Furthermore, in the purchasing strategy of Canadian partners, Vietnam is currently emerging thanks to factors such as stability, predictability, and reasonable prices.

Following the launch of Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy last year, the country is viewed as a reasonable gateway to enter the region thanks to its advantages in terms of geographical location, infrastructure, labour, and socio-political stability.

Moreover, both sides are members of the CPTPP and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), with the two countries establishing a mechanism of a Joint Economic Committee to periodically exchange views on economic and trade co-operation prospects.

Recently, the two countries have put into operation a large container ship route running directly from Hai Phong to Vancouver, thereby reducing the transit time to 17 days and lowering transportation costs for Vietnamese exporters.

Experts outlined that despite numerous advantages aimed at promoting the export of goods to the Canadian market, the North American nation’s trade policies are anticipated to create further challenges for local businesses seeking to boost exports to the market due to global uncertainties coupled with a decline in consumption expenditures.

In the first two months of the year, the export turnover of timber and wood products to the Canadian market stood at an estimated US$21.6 million, down 46.8% against the same period from last year.

In order to support businesses of the two sides to strengthen trade exchanges, the Vietnamese Trade Office in Canada said it will focus on implementing a range of key trade promotion activities, including holding seminars and online events as part of efforts to fully tap into FTAs moving forward.

Source: VOV