ASEAN Welcomes Peruvian And Canadian Ambassador
Jakarta ( Berita ) : The ASEAN Secretary General welcomed two more new Ambassadors to ASEAN, namely the Peruvian Ambassador Juan Alvarez Vita, and Canadian Ambassador Mackenzie Clugston, on Friday (6/11).
In a written statement by the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta on Saturday, Dr Surin said that Peru is the first Latin American country to have been accredited to ASEAN.
Peru is a member of MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market), considered to be very useful by which ASEAN is preparing a Region-to-Region Roadmap and Action Plan on mutually agreed areas of cooperation.
Ambassador Vita’s appointment will open up more opportunities for ASEAN to cooperate closely not only with Peru but also with MERCOSUR, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan said. Both ASEAN and Mercosur at the end of 2008 reached agreement on a coordinated approach to overcome the negative impact of the global financial crisis.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Vita said that Peru is also interested in building a strong relationship with ASEAN, given the important role it had played in the Southeast Asian region in promoting regional peace and security, social justice, human rights and international trade.
“I thank Canada for its continued support for ASEAN. The dialogues between ASEAN and Canada are certainly growing, both in the area of politics, security and economy, and with Ambassador Clugston on board, ASEAN and Canada can advance on this already well-built relations,” Dr Surin Pitsuwan said when receiving Ambassador Clugston.
Canada, a Dialogue Partner of ASEAN since 1977, cooperates with ASEAN under the ASEAN-Canada Joint Cooperation Work Plan (JCWP) 2007-2010, which aims to assist ASEAN in ASEAN community building efforts.
On the economic front, ASEAN and Canada are working towards the conclusion of the ASEAN-Canada Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) to enhance trade and investment relations.
“I am honoured to become Canada’s representative to ASEAN at a time of increasing Canadian concentration on this important region. On the political as well as trade fronts, Canada and ASEAN have an active dialogue and share many common pursuits, and I look forward to help strengthen this relationship during my time as Ambassador,” said Ambassador Clugston.
Both are concurrently the Ambassadors to Indonesia and Timor Leste Under the ASEAN Charter, non-ASEAN Member States and relevant inter-governmental organisations may appoint Ambassadors to ASEAN. So far, 27 countries and the European Commission have accredited their Ambassadors to ASEAN. ( ant )
