CAE has announced the establishment of their new Southeast Asian flight training centre in Kuala Lumpur. Increases in aircraft purchases by Asian airlines offers one of CAE's best growth opportunities in the foreseeable future.
Canada today announced economic sanctions against Burma otherwise known as Myanmar. The sanctions will have little effect on the stability of the government, but act rather to indicate official Canadian disapproval of the actions of the ruling Burmese regime. If Canada could work on convincing other Asean countries and China to enforce sanctions they may well have some effect.
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aaO7aFAOfBps&refer=canada
Canada issued a formal condemnation of the imprisonment of democracy activists in Burma. While the language is forthwith and strongly worded, Burma has repeatedly demonstrated its disregard for such protestations.
Quote: “Canada condemns the detention of the leaders of the 88 Generation Students Group, including, among others, Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Kyaw Min Yuu, known as Jimmy. Their arrest is yet another example of the Burmese authorities’ continued disregard for freedom and democracy. Canada calls for their immediate and unconditional release.
“Canada urges Burma to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Burma. We further call upon the Burmese authorities to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners, and to engage in a genuine dialogue with members of the democratic opposition ”
David Emerson has indicated from the APEC summit in Vietnam that Canada will resume free trade talks with Singapore. The hope is that a deal will be reached by 2007. The expectation is that it will give Canada more penetration into the ASEAN market. Eventually ASEAN may agree to hold group negotiations for trade deals, which Canada would in all likelihood be highly interested in pursuing.
Link: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/15/business/AS_FIN_APEC_Canada_Singapore_FTA.php
The APEC summit is gearing up in Vietnam. The talk in Canada is about the Conservative bungling of the China relationship and possible regional free trade deals. It's a shame about the Canada-China situation. Hu Jintao is really snubbling Harper by making him wait so long, which indicates he is not very pleased with Stephen. The free trade deals are still only in rudimentary talking stages so they haven't caught much attention here in Canada.
The trade talks at APEC are considered by some as a substitute to the stalled Doha negotiations. APEC accounts for 47% of world trade and thus is an important bloc.
Also keep an eye on security talks during the summit. Energy security, nuclear waste managment systems, and non-proliferation endeavours are all likely to get some coverage.
Research in Motion has opened a new customer service centre in Singapore to provide 24/7 service to its growing Asian customer base. Singapore's highly trained, multi-lingual work force is a real asset for RIM. Furthermore, the convenient location places the centre in the middle of a high-growth area for wireless communications. India, China, and Indonesia are all huge potential markets.
Canadian representatives have signed a co-operation pact at ASEAN's annual meeting. The pact will see Canada and ASEAN member countries formalize intelligence and resource sharing in their anti-terror inititatives. Agreement signatories are encouraged to conform to UN standards in the fight against terror.
Southeast asia has been home to numerous terrorist related incidents including a number of bombings in Indonesia, a barely avoided attack in Singapore, and the actions a number of political-Islamist movements which since 2001 have drawn increasing attention as "terrorist" organizations.
Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060724.wasean0724/BNStory/International/home
There have been rumours of a brewing free trade deal with Malaysia for some time now. Currently the DFA is in negotiations with a number of countries including South Korea and Singapore. This report suggests that once there are more resources available to begin negotiations with Malaysia, the two countries will start working out details of a free trade deal.
One can expect bilateral free trade agreements between Canada and smaller Asian countries to steadily increase over the next decade. The trend will be further strengthened if the Asian Free Trade Area (AFTA) works towards unifying member states' trade relations with non-member countries. The current agreement works similarly to NAFTA wherein free trade is enjoyed within the region but each member country independently negotiates trade relations with non-members.
Toon Boom a Canadian based developer of animation software has announced it will cooperate with Singapore's Institute of Technical Education to found a new "Centre of Excellence." The centre will focus on providing world-class animation training to students in Southeast Asia.
Link: http://www.toonboom.com/pdf/pressReleases/2006/TBpress_0606_Singapore_ITE.pdf
International Cooperation Minister Josee Verner has announced another $20 million in funding for Indonesian development and reconstruction after a series of natural disasters. The money is split between efforts to assist the victims of the May 27th earthquake, the residents of Aceh which was hit by the 2004 Tsunami, and to contain the spread of bird flu.
Link: http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/afx/2006/06/19/afx2825991.html
Canada and a host of other countries have decided to recognize World Refugee Day by acepting a number of refugess from Myanmar. The refugees have spent years living in camps in neighbouring Thailand. Most of the refugees are of the Karen ethnic group, whose members have been been repeatedly persecuted over the past fifty years.
Hopefully the new immigrants will find a safe and welcoming environment in Canada. A strong and organized diaspora could help to advance democratic reform in Myanmar.
Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060620.wrefugees0620/BNStory/Front
Husky Energy, one of Canada's largest energy companies, has announced a significant natural gas discovery while conducting test drilling in the South China Sea.
Hong Kong billionaire (and sometimes Vancouver resident) Li Ka Shing's Hutchison Whampoa is majority stakeholder in Husky. There have been rumours floating around for years about a possible take over by a Chinese energy company such as CNOOC or CNPC, but as of yet nothing has come of them. Finds such as this one with energy resources close at home to the Chinese market will likely fuel more speculation of such takeover possibilities.
Link: http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2006/06/15/afx2816640.html
Cinic Group, a major Chinese conglomerate, is in talks to purchase the Canadian registered company Nations Energy, which is in fact controlled principally by Indonesian share holders. The company has holdings in Kazakstan, Azerbaijan, and Indonesia.
This follows up on last year's aquisition by CNPC of Petrokazakstan, another Canadian energy company with holdings in Kazakstan. The PRC is working to actively acquire energy assets to help ensure adequate oil supplies to fuel the country's on-going economic boom. Central Asian holdings are particularly appealing to China due to their proximity to processing and pipline facilities in Xinjiang.
Link: http://www.euro2day.gr/articlesfna/15652387/
Update: It looks like China and India are in talks to offer a joint bid after realizing their competition for Central Asian energy assets wasn't helping either of them. This smart move by both sides will help them get the best deal they can in today's expensive market.
Link: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/06/bloomberg/sxbriefs.php
Rights and Democracy, an arm's length foundation funded by the Canadian government, is holding their annual conference this month in Toronto. This year's theme is: Strengthening Democracy in Asia: New Networks and Partnerships for Human Rights and the Rule of Law. This is the precis from their website:
A cross-cultural dialogue to address some of the challenges for democracy in the Asia Pacific, help develop the effective implementation of human rights through national and regional mechanisms, and identify new opportunities for partnerships between Canadian and Asian organizations promoting human rights and democratic development.
Interested parties may follow the link below.
http://www.dd-rd.ca/site/what_we_do/index.php?subsection=documents&lang=en&id=1742&page=1
The relatively small market of Thailand has agreed to once again import Canadian beef. Imports were originally halted following the mad cow scare of 2003. This is minor news, but good news for Canadian farmers nonetheless.
Link: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=af649b36-b7ee-4404-97e3-4c2067673dce&k=90105