From June 17 to 24, 2002,
David visited Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
In Singapore, David highlighted the
presence of Canadian high technology firms
and know-how at CommunicAsia/BroadcastAsia
2002 (June 17 - 18).
With over 2000 exhibiting companies
from over 40 countries, these exhibitions
are one of the largest international showcases
for information, communications, and broadcast
technology in the world.
David’s presentation to the Canadian-hosted
Venture Capital and Partnering Forum, held
immediately prior to CA/BA 2002, is available
here.
In
Malaysia, David advanced
an agenda of partnership
in high-technology and international
education marketing (June
19 - 20).
In
Cyberjaya (Malaysia’s High
Tech corridor), for example,
David learned about the
incredible advances being
made and discussed opportunities
for our two countries to
work together on emerging
technology initiatives.
Over the course of a
full two day visit, David
met with Prime Minister Mahatir, spoke with the
Canada-Malaysia Business
Council (available here),
met with representatives
of Malaysian non-governmental
organizations, and visited
the University Putra Malaysia.
The
most charged part of the
trip was to Indonesia (June
20 - 24).
As the first Canadian political
Minister to officially visit
the country in almost 5
years, the four day visit
provided an opportunity
to celebrate 50 years of
diplomatic relations.
A large portion of
the trip, however, focused
on the unfortunate situation
regarding Manulife Indonesia,
a subsidiary of the Manulife
Financial Corporation –
Canada’s largest insurance
company and one of the largest
world-wide.
The decision by a
local commercial court to
declare the company bankrupt
when it was, and continues
to be, completely solvent
threatened almost 4000 Indonesian
Manulife employees, 400,000
Indonesian policy holders,
and millions of dollars
in investment.
David met with company
employees and forcefully
raised this issue with the
Ministers of Energy and
Trade and Industry.
Among other things,
David called for the removal
of the court-appointed curator
- whose qualifications and
impartiality were being
called into question - and
the appointment of a fair
and impartial curator (or
receiver) to protect the
company pending appeal.
By the end of the
visit, the curator was in
the process of being removed,
and the government had provided
assurances that it takes
the situation very seriously
and looks forward to a fair
and just resolution.
See David’s statement
to press regarding the Manulife
situation, available here.
Photos of the rally
by Manulife employees are
available here.
David’s
trip to Indonesia also included
a visit to the State Institute
for Islamic Studies, a round-table
on corruption and governance,
the official opening of the
Canadian Chancery, and a speech
entitled “Indonesia and Inter-faith
dialogue: One Common Ground”
to the Indonesian Council
on World Affairs, available
here.
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