Hope Canada will become anchor of peace, stability in Indo-Pacific: Jokowi

Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has expressed hope that Canada will become an anchor for peace and stability, and encourage more concrete and inclusive cooperation, especially in the Indo-Pacific region.

“Welcome to the ASEAN family, Prime Minister Trudeau,” he said, greeting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the opening of the ASEAN-Canada Summit in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The summit was part of the 43rd ASEAN Summit and Related Summits, held in Jakarta from September 5 to 7, 2023, under Indonesia’s ASEAN chairmanship.

At Wednesday’s summit, Jokowi stated that Canada is a strategic partner for ASEAN in building food security, developing the downstream industry, and fostering open and equitable trade in the region.

“Hopefully, this will provide greater benefits for the people and the region,” he said.

This year, the ties between ASEAN and Canada entered a new phase of strategic partnership. Earlier, Canada was an ASEAN dialogue partner.

ASEAN dialogue partners are countries and organizations that have established formal relations with the bloc. The dialogue partners carry out regular exchanges and dialogues with ASEAN, including ministerial-level meetings and summits.

Canada’s commitment to strengthening ties and cooperation with ASEAN was conveyed by Trudeau during the Leaders Talk event of the ASEAN-Indo-Pacific Forum (AIPF), held on the same day as the ASEAN-Canada Summit.

He said that strengthening ties with ASEAN is part of Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy.

“Strengthening our ties with ASEAN is a big part of our Indo-Pacific strategy because we recognize and support ASEAN’s centrality in the region,” he said.