ASEAN, Canada eye finalizing free trade deal during Leaders’ Summit in Manila — DFA exec
MANILA — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is looking to finalize a free trade agreement with Canada during the leaders’ summit in Manila next week, an official in charge of preparations said on Thursday.
“This is important for ASEAN because this opens access for our MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) to another type of market,” Department of Foreign Affairs – ASEAN Office Executive Director Dominic Imperial told ANC’s Headstart.
“Canada is the first North American country that ASEAN has an FTA with,” he said.
ASEAN — Canada’s 4th largest trading partner — started these negotiations with Ottawa in November 2021.
“There is potential remaining to significantly enhance the relationship,” the government of Canada said in an earlier statement, noting that bilateral trade between the 2 parties was pegged at CAD$40.7 billion as of 2021.
Having an FTA with the world’s 5th largest trading bloc may “increase Canada’s gross domestic product by $2.54 billion, and boost exports to ASEAN countries to $2.67 billion,” the North American country said, citing data from a 2018 joint feasibility study.
“In order to enhance our commercial relations and strengthen our presence in this fast-growing market, Canada is committed to negotiating a comprehensive FTA with ASEAN,” the statement posted on Canada’s government portal read.
“This agreement would help create new market opportunities for Canadian goods and services, while supporting a more transparent and predictable environment for trade and investment.”
Meanwhile, among the 100 outcome documents expected to be produced during the Philippines’ ASEAN hosting are the regional bloc’s position on the oil crisis that shocked the world this year, Imperial said.
“We were met by the Middle East crisis and ASEAN had to deal with that crisis,” he said.
“We will highlight that in the statement that despite all these challenges we are facing, the Philippines, as chair, we are able to address the impact of this crisis even if we also still need to shepherd a lot of the cooperation mechanisms in the ASEAN.”
Imperial did not provide details if the regional bloc would be announcing the creation of a regional oil stockpiling hub as earlier verbalized by several ASEAN members, but the official noted that this year’s statement will be highlighting the “importance of maintaining the peace and stability in the region.”
“We will be looking at a lot of economic cooperation… the other FTAs, whether these are upgrades or reviews… highlighting the importance of the free flow of goods and facilitating trade among ASEAN, highlighting the importance of access of MSMEs to the economic and trade environment,” he said.
“We will mention the cooperation on transnational crime as it impacts not just the Philippines and the region, but globally as well,” he said.
Deals and policies on trade, security and maritime rights are also “high on the agenda,” Imperial said.
“We are looking at maritime cooperation and maritime security. That’s high on the agenda during this year’s summit,” he said, noting that the creation of an ASEAN Maritime Center would be among the highlights of the gathering.
“We are also looking at the Aspect Framework; this is a framework that addresses the response of ASEAN to climate change and other natural calamities,” he said.
“The importance of this aspect framework is putting a more science-based approach to how we deal with the impacts of climate change,” he added.
Other important issues on the Philippines’ chairmanship agenda include “capacity building” for women, youth and young entrepreneurs, Imperial said.
Some 20 world leaders are expected to converge in Manila for a series of meetings from November 16 to 18, before the Philippines formally turns over the ASEAN chairmanship to Singapore.