At themeeting, the countries spoke highly of the positive development of the bilateralcooperation over the time, especially remarkable outcomes in implementing thePlan of Action to Implement the Joint Declaration on ASEAN-Canada EnhancedPartnership (2016-2020).
Theynoted that 86 percent of action lines had been carried out through manypractical projects meeting ASEAN’s demand, including the ASEAN-OECD project onsupporting small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 2016-2021, worth 11.9million CAD (8.92 million USD).
TheCanadian side affirmed that ASEAN is a priority in its foreign policy, and pledgedto continue its support for ASEAN in the building of the ASEAN Community andimplementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, the Master Plan on ASEANConnectivity 2025 and theWork Plan III of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI Work Plan III).
Canadaalso expressed its hope to elevate its relations with ASEAN and to join and contributeto regional mechanisms such as the ASEANDefence Minister's Meeting-Plus (ADMM+) and the East Asia Summit (EAS) forregional peace, stability, security and development.
In the comingtime, ASEAN and Canada will tighten cooperation in all three pillars of political-security,economy and socio-culture, focusing on trade-investment, SMEs, disastermanagement, energy security, transnational crimes, education, promotion andprotection of the rights of women, children and migrant workers, among others,through the ASEAN-Canada Plan of Action 2016-2020. -VNA