ASEAN and Canada celebrated the 35 th anniversary of their dialogue
partnership at the ASEAN Secretariat Headquarters in Jakarta ,
Indonesia , on Jan. 20.
ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan
recalled cooperation between the two sides during the past 35 years,
saying they shared common concerns, including international terrorism,
climate change, rescue and disaster mitigation, protection of the rights
of women and children, disarmament and cooperation in other areas.
The
two sides saw development in economic trade, investment, tourism and
socio-cultural cooperation. Canada is ASEAN’s 13 th largest trading
partner, with two-way trade of 9.8 billion USD, and ranks ninth in
terms of investment in ASEAN with 1.6 billion USD.
Canadian
Ambassador Mackenzie Clugston affirmed Canada ’s stance of support
for an ASEAN of peace, security, stability, freedom, democracy and
development.
Canada will continue its traditional friendship and cooperation with ASEAN, he said.
On
this occasion, the two sides launched a three-year ASEAN-Canada study
cooperation programme. The Canadian government-funded 1 million CAD
programme will study sustainable development, natural resource
management and the impact of population and disease trends./.