Carney arrives in Manila for ASEAN summit, seeks trade pact with Philippines

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Prime Minister Mark Carney has arrived in the Philippines for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

MANILA — Prime Minister Mark Carney has arrived in the Philippines for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

Carney is visiting the capital Manila as he looks to finalize a trade deal with the Philippines and another with the wider ASEAN group of 11 countries.

Carney landed in Manila in the early morning hours of Saturday, local time, and was set to meet Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. later in the day.

The ASEAN summit involves 20 heads of government, including guests from outside the region such as U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Southeast Asia is one of the world’s fastest growing economic regions and the ASEAN bloc includes nearly 700 million people.

Ottawa says trade between Canada and ASEAN countries amounted to $52.3 billion last year, a fifth larger than the previous year. The group is key to Carney’s goal of doubling exports to countries other than the U.S. by 2035.

Vina Nadjibulla, co-founder of the Centre for Strategic Statecraft, said the ASEAN summit — along with two others in the region this week — is a chance for Carney to reinforce the importance of Asia to Canadians.

“So much of his diplomacy over the last few months has been focused on Europe, understandably so. But we also need to remind everyone that Canada is a Pacific nation, we have an Indo-Pacific strategy, and the region is really critical to Canada’s prosperity,” she said.

Carney signed a trade deal with Indonesia last autumn. This summer, he signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Philippines. It called for more labour mobility and climate resilience projects between Canada and the Philippines, a country with more than 110 million people.

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