Canada must invest in Southeast Asia’s future

Guest Commentary
Yves Tiberghien

 

Canada's relationship with Southeast Asia is critical for the future of British Columbia's and the nation's economy. Vancouver recently played host to a dialogue with this next giant of Asia, where that relationship was hopefully improved as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations held its 12th senior officials meeting with Canadian government representatives.

It is a mistake to under-estimate the importance of this meeting for Canada's relationship with ASEAN. ASEAN member nations are emerging as Asia's third major player alongside China and India. The region is so strategically important that we cannot afford not to be key partners.

Consider this:

• ASEAN's population, now more than 600 million, will reach 800 million by 2050, equivalent to about 60 per cent of China's population.

• The Southeast Asian middle class is one of the fastest growing in the world and is likely to pass the half-billion mark by 2050.

• The region is rapidly urbanizing. Its urban populations are on track to exceed 500 million in 2050, according to the Asian Development Bank.

• Individual members including Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand are emerging as powers in the region and globally. Singapore continues to play host and is invited to all recent G20 summits through clever leadership in the Global Governance Group (3G). Myanmar could soon return it to its prewar position as an economic, agricultural, and cultural centre of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and China.

• ASEAN has significantly advanced prosperity, stability, and democracy in Asia. It's also promoting broader Asian integration. The East Asia Summit, to which Canada aspires to be a member, is driven by ASEAN.

• Southeast Asia is one of the world's richest sources of biodiversity, with impressive natural resources, both on land and in the oceans.

Southeast Asia clearly requires B.C. and Canada's attention. There is a great deal of work to be done to capitalize on the emerging economies of ASEAN's 10 member countries.

As a practical first step, we need to increase our physical connections through more direct flights between Vancouver and ASEAN capitals, a key request from our Southeast Asian partners and Canadians of Southeast Asian heritage.

The federal government should send stronger signals to the private sector to encourage investment and industry in Southeast Asia. Those efforts would enable Canada to better advance our foreign policy priorities.

We must create more educational and cultural exchanges. These can have huge future returns for Canada. We should send many more B.C. students to learn from the region, and we should also encourage more future business, social or policy leaders from Southeast Asia to spend time in Canadian schools. We lack the tools to do this and have fallen behind Australia in this regard.

Partnerships should be mutual. Canada can share its knowledge of how to maximize return on natural resources and ensure the benefits are shared across the community. Countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, or the Philippines (whose president recently visited Vancouver) also have much to teach us about balancing economic and social goals, multiculturalism, and inter-religious dialogue.

ASEAN has valuable insights in the search for better global governance. It has a voice that is distinct from the Chinese, Indian, or Japanese. We need to listen to that voice more closely.

Yves Tiberghien is a Senior Fellow with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and director of the Institute of Asian Research at the University of British Columbia.

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