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DEPARTMENT
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DEPARTMENT
OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
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SFA-AGR-156-08 |
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WORK PLAN REVIEWED AT 2nd ASEAN-CANADA INFORMAL MEET |
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14 March 2008 – The 2nd ASEAN-Canada Informal Coordinating Mechanism (ICM) Meeting was held in Hanoi, Republic of Vietnam on 10 March 2008. The participants in the Meeting were Vietnam (ASEAN Coordinator for Canada) and the other ASEAN Member States, Canada (ASEAN Dialogue Partner), and the ASEAN Secretariat.
The Philippines was represented at the Meeting by Third Secretary and Vice-Consul Pamela Durian of the Philippine Embassy in Hanoi.
The 2nd ICM Meeting reviewed the progress in the implementation of the ASEAN-Canada Work Plan for 2007-2010, which was adopted by the ASEAN and Canadian Foreign Ministers during the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with Canada held in Manila on 1 August 2007.
The Work Plan outlines ASEAN-Canada cooperation in various areas, which includes health security, counter-terrorism and transnational crime, good governance, sustainable development, disaster risk management, gender equity, people-to-people and institutional linkages, inter-faith dialogue, science and technology, food, agriculture and forestry, trade and investment, and narrowing the development gap. The Work Plan also calls for expanded collaboration between ASEAN and Canada in various international fora, such as the ASEAN Regional Forum, World Trade Organization and the United Nations.
The 2nd ICM Meeting also discussed the status of preparations for the Working Group on ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism to be held in Bali, Indonesia in April 2008. The working group is expected to discuss the promotion and protection of the rights of women, children and migrant workers in the region.
To effectively implement the Work Plan, the Philippines emphasized its readiness to collaborate with ASEAN and Canada in key areas such as trade and investment, infrastructure, education, agriculture, and energy security through cooperation projects. Moreover, the Philippines raised the need to streamline the approval process for project proposals, and to develop an effective and efficient monitoring and review system to assess the progress of the Work Plan’s implementation. END.
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