Canada holds symposium on RI

INDONESIA: Canadian and Indonesian academics, diplomats and government officials gathered in Vancouver, Canada recently for a symposium to explore the future relations between the two countries.

The meeting was jointly organized by Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia.

The Canadian Embassy in Jakarta said in a press release, which was sent to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, that the symposium highlighted the bilateral relations between the two countries in terms of political and trade relations and development cooperation.

Among the speakers were Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia Randolph Mank, Indonesian Ambassador to Canada Eki Syachrudin, State Islamic University rector Azyumardi Azra, Rizal Mallarangeng of the Freedom Institute and Umar Juoro of the Center for Information and Development Studies.

"Speaking from the Canadian perspective, given the importance of Indonesia to Canada, the region and the world, I believe it is essential to strengthen and expand our bilateral partnership at this historic time of democratic consolidation in Indonesia," Mank said in his keynote speech. --JP