Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird has announced in detail his
country’s commitment on additional funding for ASEAN-Canada cooperation
initiatives.
The FM told the press on July 2
following his attendance at the ASEAN-Canada Ministerial Meeting and the
ASEAN Regional Forum that Canadian aids include a 2 million USD project
to consolidate ASEAN’s internal and external economic relations, and a
4.5 million USD funding for a Singapore-based ASEAN infrastructure
centre to serve the bloc’s connectivity.
The country
also pledged the provision of 10 million USD in four years for
mitigating disaster impacts and 5 million USD for security initiatives
in Southeast Asia.
The FM affirmed that Canada
continues to make remarkable contributions to ASEAN’s goal of building a
community and will maximise its involvement in the process.
Canada has over the past 18 months pumped 8 million USD into applied
health research as well as added 1 million USD to projects to assist
businesses and scientists engaged in scientific, technological and
medicinal research in the bloc.
Ties between ASEAN and Canada have grown since the northern American country become ASEAN’s dialogue partner 36 years ago.-VNA