With a metropolitan GDP of more than CAD 440 billion and an economic growth rate that continuously maintains a steady momentum, Toronto is the largest financial, commercial, and industrial center in Canada and a key growth engine of the North American region. Being the second-largest financial hub in North America (second only to New York), Toronto's economy has a very strong industrial services and knowledge technology structure, drawing enormous inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) from all over the world. The five biggest banks in Canada have their headquarters there, and it oversees more than CAD 9 trillion in assets. The city's core strengths are heavily concentrated in the financial and insurance services sector (contributing approximately 13.3% to the regional GDP) and the information technology and artificial intelligence (AI) sector, boasting the third-largest tech ecosystem in North America with over 17,000 tech companies and nearly 300,000 high-quality professionals-alongside real estate, multimedia, and advanced healthcare. In the new era, Toronto is rapidly emerging as a global hub of innovation by pioneering the development of a digital startup ecosystem (with over 3,500 active startup companies), implementing smart city solutions, and transitioning toward green, sustainable growth models to firmly reinforce the global supply chain.
Signing Ceremony of the Agreement on Strengthening Friendly and Cooperative Relations between Ho Chi Minh City and the City Government of Toronto, Canada - Photo: Bnews
In the areas of economics, trade, urban management, education, and science and technology, the two regions' collaborative accomplishments during the last 20 years have proven to be extremely significant and influential. Annual investment promotion programs and high-level business delegation exchanges have further reinforced the bilateral commerce corridor. In order to help Ho Chi Minh City maximize its resources in the direction of a digital economy, recent practical projects have continued to reach important milestones. These include agreements to improve educational linkages, academic exchanges, high-quality human resource training, and cooperation in the transfer of advanced technical solutions in urban infrastructure planning management.
Looking toward the future, particularly in the context of Ho Chi Minh City's newly expanded sustainable development space, the City is expanding its partnership networks to attract direct investment and forge strategic alliances with partners from the City of Toronto across three key areas:
High Technology, Innovation, and Artificial Intelligence (AI): Promoting joint research, technology transfers, and attracting Toronto enterprises to invest in Research and Development (R&D) centers, the startup ecosystem, and the application of core technologies in comprehensive digital transformation.
Finance and Commercial Services: Collaborating on the implementation and sharing of operational experiences for the Ho Chi Minh City International Financial Center Project while attracting investment funds and major financial conglomerates and robustly developing the financial technology (fintech) sector.
Education, Healthcare, and Smart Cities: Expanding the scale of joint training programs for international-standard human resources, cooperating in the transfer of digital urban governance systems, renewable energy development solutions, and the application of advanced technology in specialized medical screening.