The Canadian
delegation was composed of the following members:
From the
Senate: Hon. Joseph A. Day, Senator (Delegation
Co-Leader); Hon. Don Plett, Senator.
From the
House of Commons: Hon. Bryon Wilfert, P.C. M.P.
(Delegation Co-Leader); Sukh Dhaliwal, M.P.; Russ Hiebert, M.P., Luc Malo,
M.P., Andrew Saxton, M.P., Merv Tweed, M.P.
The
delegation was assisted by Ms. Elizabeth Kingston, Executive Secretary of the
Canada-Japan Inter-Parliamentary Group and the Canada-China Legislative
Association.
The
Honourable Bryon Wilfert, P.C., M.P. and the Honourable Joseph A. Day, Senator,
led the Canadian parliamentary delegation which participated in the 19thAnnual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum
(APPF), held in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia from January 23 to January 27, 2011.
Delegates from 17 member parliaments and two observer country attended the
meeting. The Forum, held on an annual basis, is one of the most significant
and diverse gatherings of parliamentarians from the Asia-Pacific Region.
Canadian delegates made various interventions throughout the forum and actively
participated in the debate in the drafting committee and its subcommittees.
During the 19thMeeting the delegates exchanged views on a number of
agenda items which were grouped in four broad categories:
1) Political
and Security Issues in the Asia-Pacific;
2) Economic
and Trade Issues in the Asia-Pacific;
3) Regional
Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region; and
4) Future
Work of APPF.
The program
of the conference is attached in Appendix A.
The Forum
allowed for dynamic discussions between parliamentarians and led to the
adoption of a Joint Communiqué and 17 resolutions on a wide range of subjects
including human trafficking, combating terrorism, energy and food security, democracy
in Myanmar, climate change, the Middle East peace process, reform and future
work of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum and the situation in the Korean
Peninsula. The text of the Joint Communiqué as well as the adopted resolutions
may be found in Appendix B and C.
While
attending the conference, the Canadian delegation was also able to participate
in five bilateral meetings with the delegations from Mongolia, Cambodia,
Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Meeting between Canada and Mongolia delegations
H.E. Damdin Demberel, Chairman of the State Great Hural of Mongolia
and other delegation members met with members of the Canadian delegation.
Mr. Demberel stated that Canada is the second greatest investor in
Mongolia after China, with investment principally in the mining sector. He is
grateful for the establishment of the Canada-Mongolia Friendship Group and
stated that many members of the Mongolian Parliament are members.
Mongolia is
a polity, society and economy in rapid evolution; the country has passed from a
one-party authoritarian model to parliamentary democracy and emerging civil
society within a time frame of only 20 years. The country is on the verge of
significant economic development, fuelled largely by international demand for
the country’s significant mineral resources. In order to reap this benefit
however, Mongolia faces significant challenges in terms of governance,
regulatory efficiency, fiscal policy, environmental management, education and
infrastructure. Mongolia looks very much to Canada to provide assistance to its
development in all these important areas of its development. It was noted
however, that an agreement such as FIPA (Foreign Investment Protection
Agreement) was fundamental to allow for future business with Mongolia. Such an
agreement would provide stability to companies investing and much needed
security to the investor.
In the area
of military cooperation, both Canada and Mongolia were delighted with the
agreement between the two countries to provide training assistance to the
Mongolian military.
Meeting
between Canada and Cambodia delegations
The Canadian
delegation met with His Excellency Hang Samrin, Speaker of the National
Assembly of Cambodia and accompanying delegation. Both delegations agreed that
the bilateral relationship between the two countries is strong, and the Speaker
expressed thanks and gratitude to Canada for its ongoing assistance in the
areas of national reconstruction and peace-building. Also of note was the
assistance offered by the Government and Parliament of Canada in the area of
capacity building offered to the National Assembly both for its
parliamentarians and staff. The delegation was most grateful for the number of
exchanges between the two countries, both at the committee level as well as for
higher ranking members of the National Assembly. The delegation re-affirmed
Canada’s commitment to strengthen Cambodia’s democratic institutions and
provide assistance economically, politically and culturally, leading to an
overall strengthening of democracy and human rights in the country. The
Speaker stated that the National Assembly is composed of five parties, with the
Cambodian People’s Party being the ruling party, occupying 90 of the 123 seats
in the National Assembly. Finally, the Cambodian delegation issued an
invitation to the Canadian Parliament to partake in the upcoming AIPA meeting
in Cambodia in September 2011.
Meeting
between Canada and the Malaysia delegations
The Canadian
delegation met with the Malaysian delegation, led by Pandikar Amin, Speaker of
the House of Representatives. Mr. Saxton, M.P. remarked that he is the Chair of
the newly established Canada-Malaysia Friendship Group and will be travelling
to Malaysia in March 2011. Both sides agreed that they would like to see more
business between the two countries, especially in the areas of wood products,
aqua-culture, bio-tech, agriculture, and information technology. The Malaysian
delegation congratulated Canada for its ongoing support of Burma. Also, they
expressed gratitude for the work accomplished by the Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA) and expressed disappointment that the funding had
ceased. In the area of education, the Malaysian Speaker stated that he would
like to see increased cooperation between Canada and Malaysia in terms of
establishing satellite campuses, especially in East Malaysia. He stated that
already in West Malaysia, universities from Nottingham and Australia offer
satellite campuses, and would like to see a similar program involving Canada.
Finally, both sides expressed their willingness to ongoing cooperation as
members of the ASEAN group of nations, and agreed to work together to
strengthen the rule of law and human rights within the region.
Meeting
between Canada and the Indonesia delegations
The
Indonesian delegation expressed its willingness to initiate business
opportunities with Canada, especially in the mining, hydro-electric, nuclear
power, information technology, forestry, and education sectors.
It was
expressed, however, that it is difficult for Canadian investors to obtain
permits to undertake business in Indonesia, due especially to the ongoing power
struggle existing in the country between the national and provincial
governments. This situation results in a difficult series of bureaucratic
procedures that is very time consuming. Moreover, there exists a problem of
security of investment in Indonesia which serves to hamper further any business
development.
The
Indonesian delegation stated that since the devastating tsunami, they have been
working diligently on re-construction projects and have developed an early
warning system to provide better anticipatory awareness of any future impending
disaster.
Meeting
between Canada and Vietnam delegations
The
Vietnamese delegation was most appreciative of the relationship between Canada
and Vietnam, bolstered by Canada’s support of its educational, parliamentary
and judiciary institutions, and of its military capacity-building programs.
They expressed an interest in seeing Canada getting more involved in the
Asia-Pacific region and welcomed the opportunity of seeing increased investment
and business opportunities for Canadian businesses in the Vietnamese
marketplace. The Canadian delegation
welcomed
Vietnam’s foreign investment review structure, stating that it is very helpful
in encouraging businesses to establish themselves in Vietnam. In this respect
they noted the establishment of Manulife and Sunlife in Vietnam. Vietnam offers
cheap labour and a wealth of natural resources, and with a population of over
100 million people is considered a sound market for investment opportunities.
In the area
of education, the Canadian delegation congratulated Vietnam on introducing the
Ontario education curriculum within its schools and in making English mandatory
in its schools as of Grade 3.
Conclusion
The Canadian Parliament attaches great importance to the work of the
Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) and is proud to be one of its founding
members. The Forum has allowed Canadian parliamentarians to engage in dialogue
with their international counterparts throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Given the global economic crisis and the need to guard against protectionist
tendencies, this region is of increasing strategic importance to Canada. The
Canadian section of APPF looks forward to participating in the 20th Annual
Meeting in Tokyo, Japan in January 2012.
A summary of the expenditures incurred for this activity is
attached.
Respectfully submitted,
Hon. Don Neil Plett, Senator
Co-Chair, Canada-China
Legislative Association
Mr. Mike Wallace, M.P.,
Co-Chair, Canada-Japan
Inter‑Parliamentary Group