The outgoing Canadian Ambassador to Việt Nam Shawn Steil gave the final interview of his tenure to local media on the growing relations between Việt Nam and Canada, and ruminations on prospects for the future.

What are your thoughts on the prospect of strengthened trade ties between Việt Nam and Canada amid complex global developments, especially US tariff policies?

Every crisis is also an opportunity, so this is an opportunity for us to re-examine where our trading partnership is. It’s important to note that Canada wants to sell more to Việt Nam, and we do pay attention to any potential market barriers that might be out there, and there are very few. We're both CPTPP members, so tariffs are not an issue.

We’re working with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, we're looking at the trade statistics between our countries, we're monitoring where flows are going up and down, and if we see any potential barriers we identify them quickly through our Joint Economic Committee.

And Canada does want to see more exports, because the trade imbalance is growing, and it's very significant. 94 to 95 per cent of the trade is Vietnamese exports to Canada. We're the 10th or 11th largest customer for Việt Nam, even though we're far away and have a relatively small population.

More importantly, Canada doesn't see Việt Nam as simply a market to sell our things. We see Việt Nam as an integral player in global supply chains, and this is something that the US doesn’t really understand — that we are reliant on Vietnamese manufacturing. Many companies invested here have invested heavily in their manufacturing sector here. So often we have goods being imported by Việt Nam, assembled or manufactured in Việt Nam, and then sold to Canada. So we recognise that will increase Vietnamese exports to Canada, but it's also part of our own inputs into Việt Nam.

And with the tariffs, you're seeing companies, Canadian, American, all kinds, who are looking at re-shifting or moving their supply chains. I think in many ways, Việt Nam stands to benefit as countries are pondering: where do we move our production? Việt Nam has proven its case for being a solid place for manufacturing, but in some cases it might cause harm to Việt Nam as well, so we're monitoring that carefully.

But from Canada's perspective, it’s about how we ensure that Canadian companies, even with tariffs and the threat of tariffs, can continue to benefit from participation in Vietnamese supply chains. It’s important because that links us to the market in the Indo-Pacific region, in China and other countries. And we need to maintain those linkages. For us, it's not a zero-sum game.

In what sector do you think that Canadian investors are interested in Việt Nam, and what should be done to increase Canadian investment in Việt Nam?

The manufacturing sector remains one of the most significant areas for Canada.

I would characterise Canadian investment into Việt Nam into two types. One is, let's say the lower level, which is building factories, providing inputs for assembly. At the higher end in the services sector is insurance, and Canada is one of the leading foreign investors in the insurance sector in Việt Nam already.

Canada is one of the largest mining countries in the world, we have technology, expertise, investors who invest all over the world, but there hasn't been a Canadian investment in the mining and natural resources sector in Việt Nam for maybe 15 to 20 years. That’s due in part concerns about regulatory environment and transparency. But working with some major companies like MASAN, we're looking for opportunities where we can bring that investment back into Việt Nam to support these critical minerals, rare earths that are abundant in Việt Nam. But that's going to take some work and cooperation on the regulatory side.

And then you look at what other support for advanced manufacturing might be there. So in the automotive sector, you know, Canadians are already involved in VinFast supply chains, but relatively little. I think we can do more there. But in terms of other advanced manufacturing, think about all the processes that a factory requires — energy, energy efficiency, wastewater treatment, etc. — all of those areas Canada has particular global expertise in, so we need to find ways for that investment to come in to provide service and support to the growing manufacturing sector in Việt Nam.

Because as Việt Nam continues to grow, its exports into places like Europe and North America — where high environmental standards are only growing, labour issues are only growing — training and education will be key, and Canada has the opportunity to be participating in that area not only through sales and services contracts, but also through investment.

Việt Nam and Canada relations are currently at a comprehensive partnership level. Will the two countries  upgrade bilateral ties to a new level anytime soon?

The activity over the last three years that Việt Nam has succeeded in pursuing internationally is almost dizzying, how quickly it has happened.

For Canada, we recognise the symbolic importance of these labels for the relationship. It sends a signal to everyone involved that the relationship is important. We’re also concerned about what substance comes behind that relationship.

I've been closely studying Việt Nam’s foreign policy over the last three years, and I don't think there's any country that's had a more successful foreign policy — bamboo diplomacy. It's remarkable. So, what can Canada learn from that? Quite a lot.

I've also listened to what the Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has said in Davos and in other speeches about strategic trust and what that means for Việt Nam, and I will carry that with me as a diplomat wherever I go.

He says three things, if I can summarise: One is frank dialogue, two is meeting your commitments and three is adhering to international law.

If a strategic partnership would bring us more frank and honest dialogue, we should do it. If it will bring us to making new commitments to one another and keeping those commitments, we should do it, and if it helps us join forces to not only adhere to international law but defend it, then we should do it.

Việt Nam is undertaking drastic reforms: merging localities, cutting administrative levels, etc. What is your assessment on these efforts?

It’s startling in speed, but also courageous.

Canada is is invested in economic reform. While some countries are cutting back on development assistance, Canada is doubling down. In fact, we had one of the largest increases in development assistance into Việt Nam just this year, with the approval of new projects, and many of those new projects are responding to the Government's articulated priorities for government reform.

We're doing things like supporting the Supreme People's Court in reforming the administration of the court system, working with Hồ Chí Minh Academy on training party members and members of the public service to be more effective and efficient in their work. We're working with municipalities in the city through the Federation of Canadian municipalities to do more work on environmental management in municipalities.

These are commitments that we've made and we're now speaking with the Government of Việt Nam to seek approval for the next step forward in those projects.

It demonstrates that we are very committed to supporting these very important reforms that the Government is undertaking, and we're prepared to support even more when we can.

Even for the National Assembly and the provincial People's Councils election in 2026, we're ready to support more activity and engagement by women candidates, for example.

So, there’s a lot that Canada is prepared to do and we're having great discussions with our partners in Việt Nam to ensure that we provide support for those reforms.

Could you elaborate more on the development cooperation between Việt Nam and Canada over the past few years?

We can go back to 1994, if not before, more than 30 years of development cooperation and over $1.8 billion in investment over that time and rising.

Over the last few years, there's been a focus on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, and the baseline of the economy in Canada, like Việt Nam, depends on small enterprises to drive it.

We've done a lot of work to support not just companies themselves, but the ecosystem that supports them. We’re working with the people's credit funds, for example, to support small enterprises in rural areas to ensure that they have access to capital.

We've been working a lot to build the capacity of social impact businesses. These are ones that have two bottom lines, not just to make profit, but also to provide some social good or environmental good. For years we've had a great programme, working with the UNDP and others to support those companies, identify those ones that have good ideas and then train and support them on how to get access to finance, including international finance. There are growing funds available internationally that are seeking to support social impact businesses, but you have to be very clever and very well organised in order to get those funds.

And we've had great success in supporting Vietnamese companies in accessing sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign capital on very small businesses — for example, sustainable coffee makers.

Canada is very proud that we were part of the foundation of the cooperative system in Việt Nam from many years ago, and we continue to provide advice and support and models from other jurisdictions to make sure that cooperatives remain effective and sustainable in Việt Nam.

The second area of work has been in climate change mitigation and adaptation, and we have more coming in the pipeline. Typhoon Yagi, where we were able to provide some support for the immediate humanitarian response, continues to show us that Việt Nam is particularly vulnerable. Canada is having another year of record-breaking fires, destroying thousands of hectares of forest because of climate change. We recognise that this is an emergency, and so we're helping Việt Nam support mitigating it by addressing pollution and a clean energy transition through the Just Energy Transition Partnership.

Your term in Việt Nam is coming to an end. Moving forward, what is your vision for the collaborative relationship between the two countries?

We're in our third year of the Indo-Pacific strategy. Through that strategy, Canada has launched over the last two years a series of new funded initiatives, including our new embassy, including bringing in new staff, including having programme funds that we've used to support, for example, Vietnamese initiatives like the ASEAN Future Forum or the South China Sea conference. We've used those funds to bring in Canadian experts to bring dialogue forward, and those programmes and those initiatives are just beginning.

Next year, we will co-host with Việt Nam a maritime security dialogue.

I think the last two years in particular have been a moment for us to build up our connections and build up our engagement tools, and the next three years will be reaping the benefits of those. Particularly now, when we see a Việt Nam that is confident and ready to play a leadership role. The signing of the UN cybercrime convention that Việt Nam will be hosting this fall is another example of Việt Nam saying, 'We're ready.' And this is the space that Canada has typically occupied — building international norms, reinforcing international law. It's an ideal time for Việt Nam and Canada to join forces on these things. — VNS