Canada must sustain its presence in Southeast Asia if it needs to learn from the area’s financial growth, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned on Friday as he wrapped up his go to to Laos.
Trudeau participated within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit this week, marking the third time he’s attended the annual assembly.
The prime minister mentioned pursuing bonds with ASEAN members will not be about political ideology or leaving a authorities footprint, however moderately it’s about acknowledging the financial alternatives within the area.
However to learn from what Southeast Asia has to supply, Trudeau mentioned Canadians have to make their presence felt within the area.
“That’s actually a giant piece of the problem, ensuring that we’re displaying up,” Trudeau mentioned in a information convention on Friday.
“Exhibiting up as chief, sure, however extra importantly, displaying up as companies on commerce missions, constructing these connections, making the investments in additional maritime safety presence and defence presence, making extra investments in upgrading embassies and opening commerce places of work.”
Trudeau introduced throughout the go to that Canada is upgrading its diplomatic missions in Vientiane, Laos, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia to full embassies.
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He additionally introduced a $128-million bundle of funding on the summit, with nearly all of the cash going towards environmental safety and combating local weather change.
The go to to Laos comes as Canada works towards a free-trade take care of the 10-nation bloc and a separate take care of Indonesia, which each nations are aiming to signal by the top of the yr.
ASEAN nations collectively represented Canada’s fourth-largest buying and selling accomplice final yr, and commerce with the area has almost doubled since 2015.
The go to additionally builds on the Liberal authorities’s Indo-Pacific technique, which set out a street map to strengthen navy and financial relationships within the area and counterbalance the affect of China.
Canada’s efforts are half of a bigger Western push for stronger financial and political relationships with southeast Asian nations, largely to scale back reliance on Chinese language items.
Nations within the area have their very own issues associated to China, together with ongoing disputes over the South China Sea.
The ASEAN summit adopted a sequence of violent confrontations at sea between China and ASEAN members Philippines and Vietnam, which have fuelled issues that China’s assertive actions may spiral right into a full-scale battle.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken instructed southeast Asian leaders on the summit on Friday that the U.S. is worried about China’s “more and more harmful and illegal” actions, and pledged the U.S. will proceed to uphold freedom of navigation within the very important sea commerce route.
When requested in regards to the escalation, Trudeau mentioned Canada needs to see worldwide regulation revered.
“These are issues that we abide by — and never simply stand by on paper, however we display that each time we ship a Coast Guard vessel or a navy (Canadian Armed Forces) ship by the South China Sea. It’s worldwide waters and must be open for all navigation,” he mentioned.
— With information from The Related Press.
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