On 2-3 June 2011, the 8th ASEAN-Canada Dialogue was held at Vancouver, Canada, with Mrs. Chitriya Pinthong, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs and SOM Leader of Thailand, and Mr. Peter McGovern, Assistant Deputy Minister (Asia) and Chief Trade Commissioner, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Canada, co-chairing the meeting. On this occasion, representatives from 10 ASEAN Member States and Canada discussed the progress of ASEAN-Canada cooperation in various issue, namely
1) updating the progress of the work accomplished in accordance with the Plan of Action to Implement the Joint Declaration on the ASEAN-Canada Enhanced Partnership 2010-2015 2) Canada’s accession to the Third Protocol Amending the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), whereby Canada had already acceded to the TAC 3) discussion on the drafting of a trade and investment cooperation framework as ASEAN expects that both sides could announce the Joint Declaration on Trade and Investment within this year and 4) activities to commemorate the 35th Anniversary of ASEAN-Canada relations in 2012, whereby both sides had agreed on the draft list of activities, which included high-level visits, seminars, track 2 activities, and scholarships for language training.
In addition, both sides also discussed and exchanged views on regional and global issues, such as issues on regional architecture, disaster management, counter-terrorism and transnational crimes, food and energy security, and global economic and financial crisis.
After the conclusion of the meeting on 3 June 2011, Canada organised an informal discussion between the government and the academic and private sectors of Canada. The session was co-chaired by Mr. Yuen Pau Woo, President and CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation (APF) of Canada and Mr. Ong Keng Yong, Director of the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), National University of Singapore, and former ASEAN Secretary-General. All participants at the Dialogue, as well as discussants from the Canadian private and academic sectors, were invited to participate at the session. In this regard, the session proved beneficial, given the brainstorming on ways and means to intensify ASEAN-Canada relations, as well as the sharing of views on the importance of ASEAN and the Asian region. Canada also took the opportunity to reaffirm that the new Canadian Government, which gained a majority in Parliament, is keen to revive and enhance Canada’s role in Asia, while at the same time, ASEAN supported the role of Canada in promoting greater regional connectivity within ASEAN.
To note, Thailand will host the 9th ASEAN-Canada Dialogue around June 2012 to further enhance ASEAN-Canada cooperation.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th