Canada asserts its position as a key Strategic Partner of ASEAN in the new era

Canada's Special Envoy for the Indo-Pacific Ian McKay. (Photo: Thanh Long)

Canada's Special Envoy for the Indo-Pacific, Ian McKay, spoke to the press on the sidelines of the ASEAN Future Forum 2025 on February 25 in Hanoi.

As one of the earliest partners to establish relations with ASEAN since 1977, and upgrade the partnership to a strategic level in 2023, Canada has consistently made positive contributions to ASEAN's agenda. And so looking ahead to the AFF 2025, what message of cooperation does Canada wish to convey to ASEAN countries?

First of all, Canada is very proud to have been the third country in the world to be a dialogue partner with ASEAN starting in 1977. After that, we've since been upgraded to a strategic partner.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has participated in the ASEAN summits for several of the past six or seven years. And it shows, way back to 1977, the understanding that Canada and ASEAN members had the value of true multilateralism. Multilateralism is in the "DNA" of Canada and it's the same for ASEAN countries. And we've had a strategic partnership for 48 years and we look forward to 48 more.

Besides, at the sideline of the ASEAN Summit 2024 in Laos, as a strategic partner to ASEAN, we spoke to the ASEAN member states about the upcoming G7 Summit in 2025 June in Canada.

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Because we wanted to ensure that what were top priorities for ASEAN in 2024 became significant priorities for the G7 Summit. I think G7 internally has reached a consensus that the organization needs to become more compatible with the direction of ASEAN and this association also needs to become a priority for the G7.

So Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy launched in 2022 reflects the country's recognition of the Indo-Pacific region as a key driver of global economic growth and geopolitical shift. So why is Canada prioritizing the Indo-Pacific region? And what impact does this strategy have on Canada-ASEAN relations in general, and ASEAN-Vietnam relations in particular?

In 2022, Canada launched its Indo-Pacific Strategy. It is a whole-of-government strategy that comes from a recognition that Canada needs to diversify more of its trade, culture, political ambitions towards what is obviously the fastest growing economies in the world, the fastest growing populations in the world, and a part of the world that's really becoming the center of gravity for all sorts of activities.

So Canada launched the strategy fully recognizing that we needed to up our game in the region, be more consistent, be more present and activate all of the pillars of our strategy: Defence cooperation, trade, people to people ties, solutions for climate change resilience and mitigation, and of course upgrading our diplomatic presence in the region.

So it's a very comprehensive strategy, it's very important for Canada, and we're loving the fact that we're doing it.

Canada's Special Envoy Ian McKay at a dialogue session within the framework of the ASEAN Future Forum 2025. (Photo: Thanh Long)

So what are Canada's expectations for the ASEAN Future Forum 2025, and what key contributions will Canada bring to this year's discussions? And furthermore, what recommendations can Canada offer to ASEAN countries to strengthen regional and international resilience amidst global uncertainties?

Firstly, I want to thank the organizers for the ASEAN Future Summit and for including Canada and me in my role as Canada's Special Envoy to the Indo-Pacific.

This is an important forum that brings people from all over the world to Vietnam, not just ASEAN members, but our European partners, folks here from Canada, Australia, the United States, all over the world, because they recognize that the ASEAN story is important at a time when the world is undergoing unprecedented geopolitical change.

The outcomes of this forum will be terrific dialogue and pursuit of objectives to talk about regional security, to focus on the digital economy. ASEAN has a terrific digital economy framework agreement that should be shared more broadly with partners around the world, and focus our efforts on sustainable energy transition. The faster these economies grow, the more energy they're going to need. The reliance on sustainable energy has to be available for ASEAN members going forward.

Moreover, Canada's relationship with ASEAN started 48 years ago, and it's now as a strategic partner. Our Indo-Pacific Strategy has at its core ASEAN centrality. We launched this strategy three years ago, and we did it before all the current geopolitical events were happening. I believe that it was important then, it's more important now, and our engagement in this region will go a long way to help Canada's position in the world in a very unpredictable way.

Thank you very much!

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