Guest Dispatches: Reflections on Vietnam President Tô Lâm's State Visit to Canada

President Tô Lâm’s September 24 state visit offers Canada an opportunity to elevate its relationship with one of the Indo-Pacific’s most important emerging economic and strategic partners. 

The upcoming visit to Canada by Tô Lâm, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, should mark a significant new chapter in relations between our two countries.

The visit is expected to advance Canada-Vietnam relations toward a Strategic Partnership. Canada should embrace that objective – and ensure that an upgraded relationship produces concrete economic and strategic results.

Canada and Vietnam established diplomatic relations in 1973. In 2017, the two countries established a Comprehensive Partnership encompassing political and diplomatic relations, trade and investment, development, defence and security, education, science and technology, and people-to-people ties. 

That framework has served both countries well. But Vietnam – and the world around it – has changed significantly since 2017.

Vietnam today has a population of over 100 million, is an increasingly important manufacturing and global supply-chain centre, and is one of Asia’s most dynamic economies. It is Canada’s largest merchandise trading partner within ASEAN and occupies an increasingly important strategic position in the Indo-Pacific.

The relationship should evolve accordingly.

Having visited Vietnam 12 times and having worked for many years to strengthen Canada-Vietnam relations, including as founder and Chair of the Canada-Vietnam Parliamentary Association, I have witnessed firsthand the country’s remarkable transformation.

My meetings over the years with senior Vietnamese political and government leaders convinced me early that Vietnam would become an increasingly consequential economic and strategic partner. Canada now has an opportunity to build upon that relationship at a much more ambitious level.

The economic case is compelling.

Two-way merchandise trade reached $15.7 billion in 2024. But the figures also demonstrate how much unrealized potential exists for Canadian exporters. Canada imported approximately $14.7 billion in goods from Vietnam while exporting only about $1 billion.

Canada should view that imbalance as a call to action.

Vietnam’s rapidly developing economy requires many of the things Canada does particularly well. Agriculture and agri-food, energy and liquefied natural gas, critical minerals, aerospace, clean technology, infrastructure, financial services, and education all offer significant possibilities. Emerging sectors including artificial intelligence, semiconductors, advanced manufacturing and nuclear technology should also become part of a forward-looking bilateral economic agenda.

Both countries already possess an important mechanism for expanding this relationship through their membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Canada-Vietnam Joint Economic Committee. The Canada-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Free Trade Agreement, once concluded, will further strengthen Canada’s trade relationship with Vietnam. 

But trade agreements alone do not create trade.

Canada should seize the opportunity to support Canadian companies in making greater use of access to this market. Vietnam can also serve as an important gateway to ASEAN and global markets, given the extensive network of free trade agreements it has established.

There is an equally important strategic dimension.

Vietnam’s geographic position, membership in ASEAN, growing economic influence, and importance to global supply chains make this country an increasingly significant Indo-Pacific partner. 

Defence and security co-operation should be part of that relationship. Canada and Vietnam already co-operate in areas including military training, peacekeeping, maritime security and humanitarian assistance. These relationships can be expanded as Canada deepens its Indo-Pacific engagement.

Canada possesses another extraordinary advantage: our people-to-people connections.

Canada is home to a large and successful community of Vietnamese heritage of approximately 275,000 members, who have made important contributions to business, education, the professions, public service, and communities across the country.

This community should be viewed as a strategic bridge between our two countries. Vietnamese Canadian entrepreneurs, academics, and professionals can help create commercial relationships, educational partnerships, and greater mutual understanding.

Education and research provide another opportunity. Greater university partnerships, student exchanges, and co-operation in artificial intelligence, advanced technology, clean energy, and innovation can create relationships lasting generations.

Improved direct air connectivity between Canada and Vietnam should also be pursued. Greater connectivity would stimulate business, investment, tourism, education, and family ties.

Above all, Canada needs to recognize how dramatically Vietnam has changed.

For too long, Canadian commercial attention in Asia has concentrated on a relatively small number of established markets. Genuine diversification requires Canada to look seriously at where future economic growth and strategic influence will be found.

Vietnam belongs near the top of that list.

The time has come to take the next step. A Strategic Partnership would be more than a diplomatic title. Properly implemented, it could provide the framework for significantly greater trade and investment, deeper political and security co-operation, and a stronger Canadian presence in one of the world’s most important emerging regions.

Vietnam is ready to play a larger role in Canada’s Indo-Pacific future. Canada should seize the opportunity.

• This guest Dispatch was submitted to APF Canada by Canada-ASEAN Initiatives at York University’s York Centre for Asian Research on behalf of the author.

Vietnamese President Tô Lâm’s state visit to Canada on September 24 offers an opportunity for Canada to turn shared middle-power interests into deeper economic, diplomatic, and regional co-operation with Vietnam, reducing strategic dependence on the U.S. and China while strengthening Canada’s position in the Indo-Pacific.

Canada and Vietnam: Living next to a superpower

Canada and Vietnam are both middle powers trying to assert their strategic autonomy from their respective larger neighbours, whose great-power rivalry has implications for the entire world. 

As a Vietnamese Canadian researcher, I see a parallel between Canada and Vietnam as we navigate a complex world, including complex relationships with giant neighbours.

With more than a thousand years of Chinese rule followed by colonization, war, and economic reform, Vietnam has learned enduring lessons about national vigilance and the danger of complacency. 

Canadians have discussed the imperative of not over-relying on the United States for decades, but the urgency of that debate changed dramatically in 2025 when the Trump administration imposed tariffs that exposed the risks of Canada’s dependence on its largest trading partner.

Middle powers navigating in a complex world

In the current context of trade tensions between Canada and the United States, and the efforts of Canada and Vietnam to deepen their bilateral relationship, our two countries have an opportunity to better understand each other. 

What Canada and Vietnam have in common is the effort, as middle powers, to build strategic capacity and economic resilience in a volatile international environment. Both also have an interest in an open, rules-based international order that supports long-term prosperity. 

The two countries have also had very different relationships with great powers. Canada has had difficult periods in its relationship with China. Vietnam, meanwhile, fought a war with the United States before the two countries normalized relations in 1995. Today, the United States and Vietnam have a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the highest bilateral partnership Vietnam has with any other country. 

As relationships between middle powers and great powers can change dramatically over time, countries need the flexibility to adapt while protecting their long-term national interests.

Learning from our different experiences

What Canada and Vietnam have in common should not obscure the differences between the two countries, particularly their levels of economic development and their experiences navigating the international system.

Canada is a developed, high-income advanced economy, while Vietnam is a developing, upper-middle-income emerging market. Comparatively, Vietnam has experienced much faster economic growth in recent decades. 

But Vietnam has particular experience in navigating and hedging among competing powers while pursuing national independence and economic development after decades of war. 

In 1986, Vietnam launched its “đổi mới” economic reform policy. The policy transformed the Southeast Asian country from being one of the world’s poorest nations into a dynamic and increasingly integrated economy. 

Since establishing a Comprehensive Partnership in 2017, Canada and Vietnam have built co-operation across diplomacy, trade and investment, defence and security, science and technology, education, and people-to-people ties. As Canada’s largest ASEAN trading partner and a priority in its Indo-Pacific Strategy, Vietnam offers an established platform for deeper bilateral, and regional, engagement.

President Tô Lâm’s state visit provides an opportunity to deepen that relationship further.

Vietnam’s experience of independence, economic reform, and development offers an important case study in how a middle power can navigate a complex world. 

Canada should pay attention.

Canada’s unique position to build relationships

Canada is in a unique position to build relationships with Vietnam – and with other economies in the region.

Canada has a long history of people-to-people ties with Vietnam, notably through the Vietnamese Canadian community. Canada is also seeking to diversify its trade and international relationships in the Indo-Pacific. These provide strong foundations on which to build. 

Closer relations with Vietnam should be based on mutual respect and a clear understanding of each country’s interests. Deepened relationships can serve as part of Canada’s strategic foundation for navigating global uncertainty.

First, Canada can learn from the Vietnamese experience of navigating the international system, especially during periods of profound change and uncertainty. 

Second, through its relationship with Vietnam, Canada can strengthen its connections to Southeast Asia. Vietnam can be an important partner for Canada in engaging with ASEAN and the broader Indo-Pacific. 

Adapt to change while holding our ground

There is no step-by-step playbook for navigating today’s uncertain world.

What middle powers can do is build strong relationships based on strategic trust, allowing them to adapt to change while holding their ground.

Middle powers do not have the luxury of ignoring the relationships around them. We need to understand our neighbours and the wider world, diversify our partnerships and learn from countries with experience navigating between great powers. 

To that end, Canada should treat Vietnam as a priority partner for diversifying trade, deepening engagement with ASEAN, and building the strategic resilience required to navigate competition among great powers.

• This guest Dispatch was submitted to APF Canada by Julie Nguyen, Chair of Canada-ASEAN Initiatives at York University’s York Centre for Asian Research.