Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The Right Honourable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, welcome once again.
To Your Excellencies,
The Philippines thanks Canada for its consistent support for ASEAN Centrality in the evolving regional architecture.
This clearly demonstrates Canada’s firm commitment to regional peace, security, and prosperity; and to ASEAN integration and the ASEAN Community-building process.
Last year, we adopted the Joint Leaders’ Statement on ASEAN-Canada Strategic Partnership, aimed at closely collaborating on strategic areas of mutual interest.
Of these areas, the Philippines prioritizes maritime security and safety and we are pleased to note cooperation with Canada in this regard, not only for the very strong statements of support but also in capacity building on maritime domain awareness.
This year, Canada proposed the ASEAN-Canada Joint Leaders’ Statement on Enhancing ASEAN Connectivity and Resilience. We believe it is most timely as it coincides directly with the theme of our ASEAN Chair.
Furthermore, we recognize the importance of connecting and integrating our economies and we believe that the ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement currently being negotiated would present opportunities for both sides.
We thus urge Canada to continue to work with us. I am certain that since all Member States are desirous of this agreement, we will find consensus on all remaining issues.
On resilience, the Philippines, like our neighbors, has been suffering terribly from extreme weather conditions. We believe that ASEAN can foster greater connectivity and resilience in the region by prioritizing mainstreaming biodiversity across development sectors, promoting nature-based solutions to climate change, and developing robust regional indicators for effective monitoring and evaluation.
The Philippines also thanks Canada for its unwavering support to the ASEAN Member States in the field of health security. This is of primary importance as health security is a key element of preparedness and resilience.
Meanwhile, Canada remains a preferred destination for ASEAN Students.
We welcome the Canada-ASEAN Scholarships and Educational Exchanges for Development (SEED) initiative, which has provided 616 scholarships for students from ASEAN Member States to study and conduct research in Canada since it started in September of 2018.
We shall explore possible opportunities to augment this with programs aimed at advancing digital skills, healthcare, science, and technology.
Canada also remains one of the top destinations for migrant professionals from ASEAN and certainly from the Philippines.
We welcome Canada’s continued support for ASEAN’s efforts in strengthening policies to protect migrant workers and their family members, through the Tripartite Action for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers in the ASEAN Region (TRIANGLE in ASEAN) Programme, including the annual conduct of the ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour (AFML) and development of the ASEAN Guidelines on Portability of Social Security Benefits for Migrant Workers.
We welcome Canada’s leading role in world affairs.
We are confident that Canada’s G7 Presidency next year will continue the G7’s proactive engagements in current geopolitical issues, which reflect the G7’s continuing effectiveness, relevance, and significance.
Thank you.
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