Illustrative image (Source: asiapacific.ca)The event, hosted by the Embassy of the Philippines, which is coordinating theASEAN-Canada ties till 2018, in Canada, gathered representatives from ASEANmember nations’ embassies, the Japanese Embassy and diplomatic agencies of anumber of European countries.
Myanmar’s Ambassador Kyaw Myo Htut, also Chairman of the ASEAN Ottawa Committee, in his speech, highlighted milestonesfor ASEAN and its dialogue partnership with Canada in 2017. He expressed hopethat the two sides will continue promoting win-win cooperation.
Permanent Ambassador of the Philippines to ASEAN Elizabeth Buensuceso detailed ASEAN’sformation and development milestones, as well as the ASEAN-Canada DialoguePartnership.
ASEAN has achieved success in bringing peace and prosperity to regional peoplethrough promoting economic development and integration, culture andpeople-to-people exchange, political cooperation, security links, and coordinatingin building action programmes to respond to challenges in and outside theregion, she said.
According to the ambassador, ASEAN is a successful grouping of ten countrieswhich have large differences in economy, politics, culture, and society.
ASEAN is a peaceful and prosperous region and one of the most dynamic economiesin the world, with its economic scale ranked third in Asia and seventh in the world.
Canadabecame a dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1977, and the two sides have formed ties acrossvarious fields.
In 2015, the two sides approved the Canada-ASEAN Action Plan 2016-2020, which detailedpriority cooperation fields. In March last year, Canada appointed an ambassadorto ASEAN.
The country is looking to become a member of theEast Asia Summit and the ASEAN Defence Minister’s Meeting Plus, and hopes for aformation of an ASEAN-Canada free trade agreement in the future.-VNA
VNA
