The Canadian Governmenthas affirmed to continue deepening ties with fast growing Asian markets,according to its recent press release.
The releasesaid that Minister of International Trade Ed Fast will travel toSingapore to attend the first Canada-ASEAN Business Council Forum onOctober 9 after attending the APEC Ministerial, Trans-PacificPartnership (TPP) and CEO summit meetings in Nusa Dua, Bali,Indonesia from October 3-6.
He said the Canadiangovernment focuses on creating jobs, economic growth and long-termprosperity in order to preserve and strengthen the financial security ofCanadians.
“Opening new markets for exporters is keyto these efforts and that’s why I continue to advance Canada’sinterests throughout this dynamic and fast-growing region,” he said.
The minister said that he advanced Canada’s interests in meetings with his TPP and WTO counterparts.
APEC’s21 member economies are home to almost 2.8 billion people and accountfor over half of the world’s GDP and more than 80 percent of Canada’s total merchandise trade.
Twelve countries are currentlyparticipating in the TPP negotiations, including Australia, Brunei,Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru,Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. The TPP countriesrepresent a market of more than 792 million people and a combined GDP of27.5 trillion USD, more than 38 percent of the world’s economy.
ASEANcomprises 10 countries in Southeast Asia, including major regionaleconomies such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. In2012, Canadian exports to the region totalled over 5 billion USD, whichwould have made the ASEAN countries, collectively, Canada’sseventh-largest export destination.
Earlier, CanadianForeign Minister John Baird said during the APEC ministerial meeting onOctober 5 that the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting offered Canada achance to join other APEC members to create an open and transparentmarket.
Between October 4-6, Prime Minister Stephen Harpervisited Malaysia, Canada’s second largest trade partner in ASEAN, tostrengthen economic and security cooperation between the twocountries.-VNA
