Dinner's ready: Talented Canadian celebrity chef introduces premium Canadian products to Vietnamese foodies at the month-long 2015 Canadian Food Festival in HCM City. — Courtesy Photo of organisers

HCM CITY (VNS) — Canadian beef, pork and seafood as well as maple syrup, wine and beer is being featured at the month-long 2015 Canadian Food Festival in HCM City.

Seafood items include lobster, geoduck, oysters, black cod, snow crab, salmon, mussels, and sea urchin. Also featured are Ambrosia apples, frozen cherries and dried fruits.

Canadian celebrity chef Nathan Fong, a Vancouver native, will introduce many items to visitors.

Fong is an award-winning food stylist, an accomplished food and travel journalist and founder of Fong on Food. He has been a pioneer in preparing food for photography and film since 1989.

The annual event organised by the Embassy of Canada to promote the best Canadian food products to Vietnamese consumers will last until December 9.

The highlight of the event is products of British Columbia and Alberta provinces.

"These two provinces have unique advantages as world-class food suppliers," said the Ambassador of Canada in Viet Nam David Devine at the opening ceremony on Tuesday.

"While British Columbia offers a wide range of world-famous fish and seafood products from Pacific coast, fruits and wines, Alberta is a producer of premium beef, pork and a range of wheat, grains and pulse products," he said.

Several restaurants, hotels and shops in HCM City this month are offering a special discount on the Canadian food menu items during the festival.

The two countries' bilateral trade reached an all-time high of CA$4.4 billion for the period September 2014-August 2015, making Viet Nam Canada's largest trade partner in ASEAN.

Agriculture and agri-food are an important aspect of Canada's trade with Viet Nam, representing more than half of Canada's total exports to the country.

There are bright prospects for advancing trade under the recently concluded Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, the Ambassador said. — VNS