New Canada-Malaysia bilateral agreements

Arriving in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and six provincial premiers witnessed the signing of three new agreements on air transport, forestry and education and training that will strengthen bilateral co-operation between Canada and Malaysia.

"Canada and Malaysia share a strong interest in areas such as sustainable forestry practices and encouraging private sector and human resource development," said Prime Minister Chrétien. "We look forward to strengthening co-operation between our two countries in these areas."

The three agreements include:

• an air transport agreement;
• a subsidiary arrangement on forestry; and
• a memorandum of understanding with respect to higher education and training.

These agreements were signed following a meeting between Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir, Prime Minister Chrétien and the Team Canada delegation.

More information on each of the agreements are in the attached backgrounder.

PMO Press Office: (613) 957-5555

Air Transport Agreement
Canada's first air transport agreement with Malaysia provides traffic rights that allow Malaysian Airlines System (MAS) to offer twice-weekly service between Kuala Lumpur and Vancouver via Taipei. Canadian Airlines International is co-operating commercially with MAS by selling seats under its designator code on MAS flights between both Kuala Lumpur and Vancouver and Taipei and Vancouver, but is not planning to operate its own aircraft to Malaysia in the near future.

Subsidiary Arrangement on Forestry
This is a Subsidiary Arrangement on Forestry under the General Agreement on Development Co-operation. It builds upon the existing co-operation between Canada and Malaysia in promoting the sustainable management of forests, notably through the International Model Forest Program and the Intergovernmental Working Group on Forests. The Canadian Forest Service and the Malaysian Ministry of Primary industries agree to co-operate in forest-related programs, including planning, conducting, reviewing and analyzing activities related to forest management. They will also collaborate in the areas of research and development, support initiatives in the field of forestry and design programs to foster trade and investment between the two countries.

Memorandum of Understanding with respect to Higher Education and Training
This Memorandum of Understanding will promote closer relations between the peoples of Malaysia and Canada by establishing links between colleges and universities in the two countries and encouraging the mobility of students. In particular, this initiative will support partnerships between post-secondary institutions in Malaysia and Canada, facilitate short-term two-way student exchanges by ensuring mutual recognition of academic credits and encourage the use of new technologies and distance education. Beginning in 1996-97, the program will run for an initial period of three years.