by Liza Yosephine

Canada is committed to intensifying collaboration with ASEAN countries in fighting climate change by providing development assistance for small and medium enterprises to be more environmentally friendly as well as cooperation in disaster risk management, a diplomat has said.

"Climate change has a huge impact and huge potential for damage to this region, so one of the biggest issues is actually preventing things before they happen," Canadian Ambassador to ASEAN Marie-Louise Hannan said during celebrations for Canada Day in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The event in the Indonesian capital, where the Canadian mission to ASEAN is located, took on the theme of "Green Canada" to convey the message of the North American country's commitment to combating the effects of climate change, according to the ambassador.

In the near future, Hannan went on, Canada would also focus on development assistance in the way of encouraging companies in the Southeast Asian region, of which many were small, medium and even micro enterprises, to use better environmental techniques and technologies in their businesses.

One of the biggest concerns ASEAN countries face in terms of environmental issues was closely linked to disaster risk management, she said. Canada had long focused on risk mitigation efforts and would continue to do so, especially in relation to the fact that many countries in the region had large coastal areas and were at high risk of natural disasters, Hannan added.

Canada and ASEAN celebrated their 39th year of dialogue partnership in February. Hannan is the first dedicated Canadian ambassador to ASEAN and presented her credentials in March.