Moldova organizes first meeting in GUAM + Canada format

Chisinau, 6 December /MOLDPRES/ - The first meeting in the GUAM (Organization for Democracy and Economic Development) + Canada format was held in Milan today, in line with the provisions of the programme of Moldova’s chairmanship in this Organization. The foreign affairs ministers of the Organization’s member countries and the head of the Canadian diplomacy, Chrystia Freeland, participated in the event, the Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry’s (MAEIE) public diplomacy, strategic communication and media interaction service has reported.    

The participants in the discussions considered possibility to establish an official format of partnership between GUAM and Canada, similar to the already existing ones, GUAM + Japan and GUAM + USA. The goal of this new partnership format is to diversify the sectors of cooperation between the Organization’s member states with an important actor on the international stage, such as Canada.   

According to Moldovan Foreign Affairs Minister Tudor Ulianovschi, who chaired the meeting, the cooperation in the GUAM + Canada format is a new stage in the promotion of common interests of the Organization’s member states and a new prospect for diversifying the collaboration between GUAM and foreign partners. This will allow establishing new partnerships, such as new possibilities for commercial and economic, cultural, tourism exchanges, etc.  

For her part, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland expressed her country’s interest in the economic, political and social processes from the region and noted that cooperation between Canada and the GUAM countries might provide new possibilities for the economies involved.    

The sides agreed on considering more in detail the present opportunities, including the possibility to establish a permanent format of cooperation between GUAM and Canada, meant to serve as a platform of concrete actions, which might yield results for all sides concerned.