Why did Trudeau fly to the other side of the world to spend less than 48 hours in Southeast Asia

Amid the threat of a first federal election, the prime minister left Ottawa on Tuesday amid a tumultuous parliamentary week for a 27-hour trip to the other side of the world.

When he arrived, Justin Trudeau spent less than 48 hours on the ground in the capital of Laos, meeting with world leaders and announcing a package of $ 128-million for the bloc of 10 countries in Southeast Asia.

It wasn’t the prime minister’s biggest announcement, but the dollar value wasn’t the driving force behind the trip.

Despite all that is happening on Parliament Hill – including MPs putting in a new attempt to oust Trudeau (a story that happened when the prime minister returned to Ottawa) – senior government officials believe that missing the ASEAN summit was not an option.

Canada had its status with the Association of Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN) upgraded last year for the first time since it became a negotiating partner back in 1977.

If Trudeau had not come to this year’s conference, the federal government would have been accused of neglecting Southeast Asia. And senior government officials fear that nine years of work trying to undermine Canada’s reputation as a reliable partner seeking to become a major player in the region has gone out the window.

“It’s important that Canada plays an active role,” said Julie Nguyen, chair of Canada-ASEAN programs at York University in Toronto.

That means I flew to Vientiane, Laos — 12,956 kilometers from Ottawa — to reassure my Southeast Asian counterparts that the federal government is committed to the strategic relationship Canada and ASEAN are committed to advancing, he said.

A growing trade and security relationship

Trudeau’s arrival in Vientiane marked the first visit by a Canadian prime minister to Laos, a small landlocked country in northern Thailand.

And it was Trudeau’s third year at the ASEAN summit – details he repeated when he spoke to world leaders, in a panel before business groups, and when he spoke to reporters at his press conference.

He also emphasized that Canada’s trade with ASEAN has almost doubled since he took office in 2015. Ottawa has launched an Indo-Pacific strategy and aims to ink free trade agreements with Indonesia this year and ASEAN as a bloc next year, he said. .

Trudeau wants to keep that momentum going. He announced that his government is launching new trade programs in Thailand and Cambodia. He also announced 128 million dollars for various ASEAN programs, including security, promoting women’s rights and fighting climate change.

But facing the prospect of a campaign at any moment, will Trudeau’s career survive his government?

It was one of the first questions asked at the prime minister’s closing news conference on Friday before he headed to the tarmac to fly to Ottawa.

“It’s not about an ideological decision to say, ‘Oh, okay, let’s be happy about Southeast Asia,'” Trudeau said.

“It’s about understanding that this part of the world offers a great opportunity for Canada, but also an opportunity for ASEAN as Canada engages.”

That response could be seen as a sign that the Trudeau government believes the time it has spent making connections in the world’s fastest-growing economy is an investment that will continue to pay dividends beyond its shelf life.

Vina Nadjibulla, VP of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, said Trudeau needs to build on the momentum of the past few years for this strategy to work.

“We can’t just say, ‘Okay, it’s done. We’re a strategic partner … we can stop paying attention,'” Nadjibulla said.

“Actually at the moment it’s better to go down twice than to go.”

The fifth largest economy in the world

ASEAN is made up of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

With a population of nearly 700 million people, the 10-nation bloc is the world’s fifth-largest and Canada’s fourth-largest trading nation, with nearly $40 billion worth of goods between them each year.

“You’re doing business with Canada, but you’re actually doing business with the rest of the world,” International Trade Minister Mary Ng said as she addressed business leaders in Vientiane on Friday.

Ng sat down to discuss Ian McKay, Canada’s ambassador to Japan and special envoy for the Indo-Pacific, and Trudeau, who tried to sell Canada’s natural resources.

“We have mines with valuable minerals that will be important ingredients for the economy and the green transition of the future,” Trudeau said.

Regardless of what happens after the next general election, it remains unclear whether Canada’s position in Southeast Asia will move forward.

Kai Ostwald, chair of Asian studies at the University of British Columbia, said that ASEAN member countries want to maintain a neutral position between China and the US – its main trading partners. They don’t need another player to pull them from both sides of the conflict, he said.

“There is still room to clearly define what Canada’s role is in the region,” Ostwald said before the conference.

One thing is clear: Canada’s relationship with the region needs serious face time.

In other ASEAN members, such as the Philippines, Trudeau’s personal appearance – even if it was brief – seemed to be effective.

“The relationship between Canada and the Philippines has never been closer in our entire history,” said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday when he greeted Trudeau with a bilateral meeting.