The UK is poised to join this major Asia-Pacific trading bloc in time for New Zealand’s host of key trade ministers in Auckland over the Matariki weekend in July.

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.

Expectation is mounting that the U.K.'s bid to join a major Pacific trade bloc will soon be green-lit following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's breakthrough post-Brexit pact with the EU.

Canada is a potential market for Vietnam’s textile and garment exports thanks to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), said Dang Thai Thien, deputy head of the Supervision and Management Division under the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department.

The implementation of free trade agreements (FTAs) will continue to prove fruitful for Vietnam in 2023, said Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien.

Since its World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership in 2007, Vietnam has engaged in more than 500 bilateral and multilateral agreements in various fields, including 7 free trade agreements (FTAs).

The Vietnamese shrimp industry has made it through a tough year of weakening demand and come out afloat, according to business leaders.

In 2023, the agricultural sector will promote negotiation to open more foreign markets for local farming commodities, said Hoang Trung, director of the Plant Protection Department under the MARD.

Despite continued concerns over the contents of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the achievements of the deal are remarkable in terms of the enhancement of Vietnam’s international economic integration.

In the recent three years after the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) took effect, trade revenue between Vietnam and other member countries has seen two-digit growth every year.