JAKARTA, 24 June 2026 – Senior Officials of ASEAN and Canada reaffirmed their commitment to further advancing ASEAN-Canada Strategic Partnership at the 23rd ASEAN-Canada Dialogue held today at the ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat.
Canada reiterated its support for ASEAN Community-building efforts and ASEAN’s central role in the evolving regional architecture. Canada highlighted that its relations with ASEAN remains a foreign policy priority of the country.
Both sides took stock of the progress made in ASEAN-Canada cooperation across all three pillars of the ASEAN Community and noted with satisfaction the robust and full implementation of all measures under the Plan of Action (POA) to Implement the Joint Declaration on ASEAN-Canada Enhanced Partnership (2021-2025). The meeting endorsed its successor document, the ASEAN-Canada POA for 2026-2030, for its adoption at the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference with Canada in July this year.
The Senior Officials looked forward to the substantial conclusion of the negotiations for the ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement this year, which will strengthen ASEAN-Canada economic relations, connect ASEAN and Canada closer to the global value chain, and improve market access for the private sector of both sides.
ASEAN and Canada continued to enhance collaboration across areas of common interest, including maritime cooperation, combating transnational crime including cybercrime and online scams, cyber security, Artificial Intelligence, trade and investment, energy, food security, science, technology and innovation, digital integration, education, people-to-people exchange, youth and women empowerment, tourism, sports, health, and disaster management, connectivity, sustainable development including environment and climate change, and disaster management. In this regard, the Senior Officials welcomed the establishment of the ASEAN–Canada Plan of Action Trust Fund Development Cooperation Programme Management Team (PMT) at the ASEAN Secretariat to ensure the effective and efficient utilisation of the Trust Fund in support of joint cooperation projects.
Both sides also exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues of common interest and concern, including the challenges posed by geopolitical tensions and global energy security, the situations in Myanmar, South China Sea and the Middle East.
The Senior Officials looked forward to commemorating the 50th anniversary of ASEAN–Canada Dialogue Relations in 2027, and agreed to work closely together towards a substantive and meaningful commemoration of this milestone.
The 23rd ASEAN-Canada Dialogue was co-chaired by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lao PDR and SOM Leader of Lao PDR, Phongsavanh Sisoulath, and Assistant Deputy Minister for the Indo-Pacific of Global Affairs Canada and SOM Leader of Canada, Weldon Epp. Senior officials of ASEAN Member States or their representatives and the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Political-Security Community were in attendance.
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