Harper keen to talk trade in Malaysia
Chinese president, U.S. stalemate could overshadow PM’s efforts
KUALA LUMPUR, Mala ysi a — Canadian pennants appeared on lamp posts Friday in the centre of the Malaysian capital, to welcome Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose RCAF aircraft arrived late in the evening in the equatorial heat after a circuitous 25-hour polar journey from Ottawa that included refuelling stops in Alaska and Japan.
But Malaysians remained fixated on the presence here this weekend of another world leader: Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China does more than 33 times the trade with Malaysia that Canada does, so it was small wonder that Xi was welcomed by the Malaysian Parliament Friday before being feted at a royal banquet. Until now, the biggest deal by far between Canadaand-Malaysia was the $5.2-billion sale last year of Calgary-based Progress Energy Resources Corp. to the Malaysian state-owned Petronas energy company. But Canadian trade with Malaysia has been stagnant for several years while trade between Malaysia and China is growing.
Malaysians have also been keenly interested in the shutdown of the U.S. government, which has disrupted plans of President Barack Obama to spend nearly a week in the Orient.
The stalemate in Congress over government funding and health care, and the chance that this might cause the U.S. to default on its loans, forced President Barack Obama to cancel plans Thursday to attend next week’s annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bali, and the Far East Summit in Brunei.
Although Obama has said Asia is one of his presidency’s top foreign-policy priorities, to try to deal with the political gridlock in Washington the U.S. leader had earlier this week called off high-profile side trips to the Philippines and what would have been the first visit by a president to Malaysia since Lyndon Johnson was here in 1966.
Harper and China’s Xi will both attend APEC. After that, Harper flies home while Xi continues on to Brunei.
After staying close to home during his two minority governments, Harper pushed Asia to the top of Canada’s international agenda when he won his first majority. The prime minister has been to Asia several times since to drum up business, including trips to China and India.
There have also been scores of ministerial visits to Asia including 13 in the past 28 months by International Trade minister Ed Fast, whose urgent remit is to grow Canadian trade overseas, especially in the Far East.
To do that, Canadian and Malaysian foreign policy experts have called for Canada to develop a comprehensive Asian policy that not only promotes economic opportunities here, but includes other fields of mutual interest that can lay the groundwork for a more substantial relationship.
“Canada should have a national security policy towards Asia,” said Eva Busza, vice-president of knowledge and research for the Vancouver-based Asia Pacific Foundation. “When looking at this, we have to ask where our strengths lie. We excel at services, engineering and technological innovation.
“One area where we can contribute is in non-traditional security. If you take that definition in its broadest sense, I see real opportunities for Canada. We can help with food and water security, disaster-risk reduction, climate-change adaptation and capacity building to fight terrorism and the financing of terrorism. We can also be a leader in cyber-security, developing this from a commercial angle, too.”
While Harper, Fast and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird have made plain that they consider China a key trade partner, Canada must diversify its approach by reaching out to other countries such as Malaysia, which is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Until now, it has been slow going for Canada in Asia. While trade with Asia is up in dollar terms, it has been shrinking as a percentage of total trade.
Moreover, Canada has not yet been able to conclude any trade agreements in Asia.
There is much to be done to turn this around, Busza said, citing the need for more small- and medium-sized Canadian companies to get involved in Asia. More Canadian students have to learn Asian languages and Canada has to take greater advantage of its Asian immigrants whose language skills and cultural understanding often make it easier for them to engage in Asia, she said.
Taking an optimistic view of Canada’s future dealings with Asia, Busza said, “Look at technological developments, things can turn on a dime. You really need one good idea to make things take off.
“It is wrong to assume that past trends will continue. There is a danger of that, but with the right investments, you can leapfrog into a better position.”