Canney’s Singapore eyes eyes on trade close amid broader uncertainty – national
Prime Minister Mark Carney met with potential investment partners in Singapore on Tuesday as his first official visit to Asia entered its second phase.
The brief stop in Singapore comes in the middle of Carney’s trip to two economic summits, where he touted Canada as a reliable trading partner for Southeast Asia and as an attractive investment destination.
On Sunday, he told a business audience in Malaysia that Canada learned last year that “we need to build scale at home.” He said Canada needs about half a trillion dollars in investment “in many areas that I think most investors and businesses here will find attractive.”
Global news Canada said Singapore led Southeast Asia as the largest source of foreign investment in Canada by 2024, at $9 billion. The country is home to many influential international investors and funds with past connections to Carney.
On Tuesday, the Prime Minister was in a series of private meetings with sovereign wealth funds, including the head of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp., which has investments in Canada. He also met with current and former executives of Tematek, a government-owned global investment company that has invested in Canada’s Capemba Technology.
The Prime Minister’s Office said Carney planned to encourage more investment in areas such as AI, clean technology, critical minerals and nation-building projects in Canada.
He also visited the facilities of Port operator PSA International and met its CEO. The company has terminals in British Columbia and Horifax, and Carney’s office said they plan to “promote PSA International to implement the following projects in Canada.”
Canney’s visit to Singapore comes after his visit to Japan was ended by political shifts in Tokyo.
Senior Canadian authorities, who were authorized to brief the press about Canney’s trip to the situation were named as Japan instead of this week that the country’s federal government did not end earlier this month.
US President Donald Trump visited Japan on Tuesday and met with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office last week.
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Takaichi can meet with Carney at the APEC summit in South Korea, which he is expected to attend from Thursday.
Carney began the trip to Malaysia at the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Horit, known as ASEAN.
The 11-country bloc includes the world’s fastest-growing economies, including Singapore. Most of the members of the group always go against the power competition between the US and China.
Stéphanie Martel, professor in charge of Southeast Asia at Queen’s University in Kingston, ie. Therefore, Ottawa needs to prove its safety if it wants to be safe in the region.
“Canada probably needs the Asean way more than it needs it – and they know it, but I don’t think they actually do,” Martel said. “They have a lot of big fish in the cold, so we really need to make a strong and convincing case about (our) added value.”
Canney’s visit The visit of efforts to build on the Indo-Pacific study by the Liberal government was released three years ago, which was a collaboration in Southeast Asia.
The strategy has repeatedly noted that many in the region believe that Ottawa has been involved inconsistently, with periods of great achievement followed by years of silence.
Marterl said it makes sense for Carney to focus on trade, given the pressures facing the Canadian economy from US tariffs. But he said he also needs to talk about broader issues, such as security and climate change, that resonate with people in Southeast Asia.
“I’m a little worried that we’re also forgetting the need – including when we think about getting those trade and investment benefits – to give this idea of Canada being a reliable and constructive partner,” he said.
Marterl said it is very important for all groups facing Trump’s trade policies and procedures.
“For our partners in the region, it has become very clear that the United States is unpredictable, unreliable and will lead you to look to China for that situation,” he said.
“There are also windows of opportunity for Canada – among other partners that are equally invested in maintaining predictability, common rules in trade and other areas – to help mitigate that problem.”
While Asean declared Canada a strategic partner in 2023, it was left out of cooperation that would include ASEAN talks on issues such as defense.
“We’ve become a partner when we want to reach those, but we haven’t been able to make a strong case for what we hope to achieve by being there and how we can contribute,” MarterL said.
Malaysian Prime Minister Ibrahim told Carney at the start of a private meeting that his Cabinet has agreed to push for deeper cooperation with Canada that includes trade, research and education and investment.
Canada and Asean have pushed back the timeline for completing the trade deal. That agreement was supposed to be signed this year but was delayed until next year.
Marterl said the delay is not surprising, because the Asean Bloc includes countries with very different goals and levels of development. He said it would be wise for Canada to sign a separate agreement with Indonesia this year and announce plans to accelerate trade talks with the Philippines.
“This is clearly a way to improve, to improve multilateral and bilateral discussions,” he said.
Carney also met with leaders who you may see on the Summit Circuit next year. He met with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., ahead of the Philippines hosting the ASEAN summit the following year.
Carney also plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week at the APEC summit in Korea. China will host the APEC summit next year.
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