Ottawa (VNA) – Canadian Foreign Minister MarcGarneau has underscored the strategic importance of the relationship betweenCanada and ASEAN, based on an enduring partnership of shared interests andcooperation that has spanned over 44 years.
A document released on August 5 said at the virtual ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference onAugust 4, the minister highlighted Canada’s strong support for ASEAN in addressingthe challenges posed by the pandemic.
He underlined opportunities for enhancing collaboration withASEAN member states in several areas, including political and security, as wellas trade and economic cooperation, notably a possible Canada-ASEAN Free TradeAgreement.
The minister reiterated that Canada remains a strong andreliable supporter of ASEAN, given the organization’s central role in theregion, and that Canada will continue to promote a peaceful and prosperousIndo-Pacific region in its engagement with all ASEAN member states.
The minister concluded by emphasizing Canada’s commitment todeepening the partnership between Canada and ASEAN to make further advances inthe months and years ahead.
Becoming a dialogue partner of the ASEAN in 1977, Canadahas made important contributions to the narrowing down of development gap inthe region.
Since 2020, Canada provided nearly 3.7 billion CAD (2.96billion USD) as development support to ASEAN member countries. Trade betweenCanada and the ASEAN reached 26.6 billion CAD in 2020, a slight drop from 27.2billion CAD in 2019 due to COVID-19 impacts. ASEAN is the fifth largest tradepartner of Canada last year.
Canada appointed its ambassador to the ASEAN in 2009. Thecountry has also set up diplomatic representative offices in 10 ASEAN membercountries./.
A document released on August 5 said at the virtual ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference onAugust 4, the minister highlighted Canada’s strong support for ASEAN in addressingthe challenges posed by the pandemic.
He underlined opportunities for enhancing collaboration withASEAN member states in several areas, including political and security, as wellas trade and economic cooperation, notably a possible Canada-ASEAN Free TradeAgreement.
The minister reiterated that Canada remains a strong andreliable supporter of ASEAN, given the organization’s central role in theregion, and that Canada will continue to promote a peaceful and prosperousIndo-Pacific region in its engagement with all ASEAN member states.
The minister concluded by emphasizing Canada’s commitment todeepening the partnership between Canada and ASEAN to make further advances inthe months and years ahead.
Becoming a dialogue partner of the ASEAN in 1977, Canadahas made important contributions to the narrowing down of development gap inthe region.
Since 2020, Canada provided nearly 3.7 billion CAD (2.96billion USD) as development support to ASEAN member countries. Trade betweenCanada and the ASEAN reached 26.6 billion CAD in 2020, a slight drop from 27.2billion CAD in 2019 due to COVID-19 impacts. ASEAN is the fifth largest tradepartner of Canada last year.
Canada appointed its ambassador to the ASEAN in 2009. Thecountry has also set up diplomatic representative offices in 10 ASEAN membercountries./.
VNA
