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In Asia, Canada hopes to fill a Trump-sized void | Front Burner

CBC News - Front Burner Daily Podcast, October 29, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla

Excerpt: On PM Mark Carney's trip to Asia, Nadjibulla notes that Carney is aiming to "position Canada as a reliable, serious partner that is interested in doing business with Asian partners and that values inclusive trade as well as sustainable development, and is committed to rules-based trade that puts Canada in a different category than the big powers like the U.S. and China." 

Canada has "been talking about diversification for thirty years," she adds. "But I think now it's not just a 'nice to have' but 'a must have' if Canada is to continue to be a prosperous, secure country."

Canada in Search of Submarines (And New Friends)

La Presse, October 28, 2025

Featuring: APF Canada 2025-26 Media Fellow, Laura-Julie Perreault.

Excerpt: "Mark Carney is spending the week in Asia, where... he's tasked with strengthening relations with several countries in the region. He's eagerly awaited in South Korea, where the military industry and government are prepared to do anything (or almost anything) to woo Canada."

In Geoje, South Korea, Perreault reports from the Hanwha Ocean shipyard where "a brand-new submarine awaits visitors...So new, you can almost smell the champagne that was sprayed on the hull the day before our arrival, as it was launched."

In Seoul and Gwacheon, Perreault backdrops the nation's military industry at the ADEX exhibition, highlighting "defence and aerospace companies from around the world...but it is the South Korean companies that steal the show with their enormous, large-scale booths."

CBC News Network's Aarti Pole speaks with Vina Nadjibulla of the Asia Pacific Foundation

CBC News, October 28, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla

Excerpt: "Asia will be critical to [Canada's] diversification efforts both in terms of trade investment, but also in terms of strategic partners in this changing world," says Nadjibulla. "Diversification is a long-term game... we need Asia to invest in Canada."

"In the short term we have to stabilize relations with the U.S. because that uncertainty unfortunately also makes it harder for us to get Asian [economies] and others to invest in Canada... but at the same time we have to continue to build new relationships with important countries in Asia." 

She adds that Canada needs to invest in "trade enabling infrastructure" to support these partnerships. 

India seeks B.C. trade reset as tension cools

Business in Vancouver, October 28, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla

Excerpt: Both export and import volumes between B.C. and India have fallen since Trudeau's accusations against the India government in 2023 – the total trade volume dropped from a peak of $2.5 billion in 2022 to $2.23 billion in 2023 and $2.15 billion in 2024, according to the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

“One of the reasons the overall trade numbers for Canada and India didn't go down is because some provinces really maintained relations, even when the Ottawa-New Delhi relationship was more challenged,” explained Nadjibulla.

“Now that it is clear that the relationship between Ottawa and New Delhi is improving, this also opens up opportunity for B.C. to re-engage more fully at the level of our senior officials."

Carney looks for allies in Asia as U.S. trade war escalates

CBC News: The National, October 27, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla

Excerpt: Amidst ongoing trade tensions with the U.S., Nadjibulla urges Canada not to ignore Asia. 

The Southeast Asia region "collectively represents about 667 million people. It's a large opportunity because they have a growing middle class [and] a growing economy."

CBC's Marianne Dimain speaks with Tricia Yeoh on Trump, Carney, and tensions at the ASEAN summit

CBC News, October 27, 2025

Featuring: Senior Fellow, APF Canada, Tricia Yeoh

Excerpt: "Southeast Asia... puts forward a new potential strategic partnership for Canada at a time when Canada is seeking new partnerships and allies across the world.

Canada will also need to do more to show that it is more than just a trading partner, that it is also interested in the priorities and objectives of ASEAN as a region."

When it comes to the upcoming ASEAN summit, Yeoh notes that "ultimately ASEAN stands to gain from [the U.S. and China] not being in total war on the tariff front" and emphasizes an optimistic approach to bilateral negotiations on the Summit's sidelines.

Canada's economic prosperity will be tied to Indo-Pacific trade, explains foreign policy expert

CPAC, October 27, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla 

Excerpt: "To be able to get [Canadian] products into the global market, we need a lot more infrastructure at home," says Nadjibulla. Canadians "need to do a lot more now to make [these trade deals] a reality because right now only about 10 per cent of Canada's trade is with Asia."

"Now it seems like the urgency is there, the opportunities are there, but we do have to be realistic... there is an opportunity in this crisis to finally get serious about diversifying our partnerships... and one piece of that is we need to have Asia competence."

Why is Canada so interested in ASEAN?

ICI Radio-Canada, October 26, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla 

Excerpt: "There is complementarity between the Southeast Asian and Canadian economies, [says] Vina Nadjibulla, VP, Research and Strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

"They have a growing middle class, a growing economy, and many needs in terms of energy, food, investment, infrastructure and technological support...[ASEAN countries] are trying not to get caught between the United States and China, two giants now engaged in strategic competition. Canada is also trying to avoid getting caught in this battle."

Carney pitches Canada to ASEAN as Trump threatens more tariffs

CBC News, October 26, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla 

Excerpt: In response to the additional 10 per cent tariff placed on Canada over the weekend by U.S. President Donald Trump, Nadjibulla says Canada must "be able to do multiple things at once; stabilizing trade discussions with the U.S. is job number one, but equally important is to diversify our trading relationships... including in Asia, and of course the final job is to strengthen our economy at home." 

She adds that PM Carney's meetings over the weekend with members of ASEAN are critical for finalizing the Canada-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement. "Prime Minister Carney essentially wants to see that deal finalized as early as possible next year." The PM was able to "raise Canada's profile [in the region], to position Canada as a leader that is interested in continuing rules-based trade and... economic integration." 

PM Pitches Canada as Trade Partner for Southeast Asia

CTV News, October 26, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla 

Excerpt: Nadjibulla tells CTV during an on-air interview that Canada's outreach to the Asia Pacific for trade partnerships is "absolutely critical . . . it would be impossible for Canada to meet the target of doubling our non-U.S. exports without deeper partnerships in Southeast Asia and Asia more generally."

She adds that these partnerships are also vital for securing critical infrastructure needed to maintain and expand trading relations like "ports and railways, and for that we need a lot of new capital."

Carney to pitch Canada as reliable partner in Asia

Carney faces historic choice between South Korea and Europe for submarine fleet

Globe and Mail, October 25, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla 

Excerpt: 

"Former prime minister Jean Chrétien once nixed a helicopter deal and Justin Trudeau originally opposed buying the F-35 fighter jet, but Mr. Carney’s very hands-on approach reflects “the reality that security and the economy are now inseparable,” said Vina Nadjibulla, vice-president of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. 

“Major procurements have become strategic industrial policy, alliance management, and national-security decisions all at once – appropriate for leader-level engagement in an era of great-power competition and supply-chain geopolitics."

Canada’s Indo-Pacific Pivot: Strategic Signals and Bilateral Motion

The Swing by Pendulum Group, October 24, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla 

Episode Notes: 

This week Yaroslav Baran is joined by two luminaries of foreign policy and trade with a particular expertise in the Asia-Pacific region: Vina Najibulla is Vice-President, Research & Strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and Jonathan Berkshire Miller is Co-Founder & Principal at Pendulum Geopolitical Advisory.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand has just completed a whirlwind tour of China, Singapore, and India—three countries chosen with clear intent. This marks the Carney government’s first major diplomatic engagement in Asia, signaling a strategic re-entry into a region that’s central to Canada’s long-term economic and geopolitical interests.

So what is Canada trying to achieve? And is it working?

Three key messages emerged from this tour . . . [listen for more].

Mark Carney Turns Attention to Asia as Trump Terminates Trade Negotiations

Newsweek, October 24, 2025 

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla 

Excerpt: Vina Nadjibulla, vice president of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada: “While the world economy is fragmenting, Carney needs to make it clear that Canada stands apart and is still interested in rules-based trade and globalization.”

Canada’s PM Mark Carney courts Asia to cut economic dependence on US

Financial Times, October 24, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla 

Excerpt: Nadjibulla tells the Financial Times that Carney's first official trip to Asia is part of a project to “reimagining Canada’s foreign policy”.

“Old assumptions are no longer holding, so we need to change the way we approach the world; it’s pragmatic diplomacy."

Carney faced with balancing relations with China, U.S. as he departs for summits

CBC News, October 24, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Nadjibulla 

Excerpt: When it comes to the China-U.S. trade dispute, Nadjibulla says that Canada and Indo-Pacific middle powers are trying not to get caught in the middle of "the two giants that are now engaged in strategic competition." 

Prime Minister Carney's first trip to Asia starts this week with ASEAN, APEC summits

The Canadian Press , October 24, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Najibulla 

Excerpt: "I think this is an opportunity for Canadians and for the regional partners to hear from Prime Minister Carney, his vision for engaging with the Indo-Pacific, how he's intending to deepen trade and economic relations as well as security partnerships," says Nadjibulla on Carney's upcoming trip to Asia this week. 

"Southeast Asia has been kind of the epicentre of the U.S.-China competition" and ASEAN nations are "really keen to have Japan, Australia, the European Union, India and Canada in the room as strategic partners to engage with the region."

PM Carney makes his Asia debut

The Hill Times - Politics This Morning , October 24, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Najibulla 

Excerpt: In Malaysia, Nadjibulla says Prime Minister Carney will likely look to “make some political signals” on finalizing the Canada-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement.

While the FTA has gone through a negotiation committee with 14 meetings over the last few years, Nadjibullas says that it seems "unlikely that the talks will conclude this year, and Canada is now looking to finalize the agreement by 2026."

Canada's Carney visits Asia to forge new alliances and reduce US dependence

Reuters, October 24, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Najibulla 

Excerpt: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney travels to Asia today for his first official visit to the region to expand Canada's trading and diplomatic relationships. 

"While the world economy is fragmenting, Carney needs to make it clear that Canada stands apart and is still interested in rules-based trade and globalization," says Vina Nadjibulla. 

Anand says Canada is in a ‘strategic partnership’ with China

The Canadian Press, October 23, 2025

Featuring: Vice-President, Research & Strategy, APF Canada, Vina Najibulla 

Excerpt: "Selective engagement" with China, Nadjibulla tells the Canadian Press, is hard and complicated to achieve. 

“China doesn’t like to compartmentalize,” she said. “Normally, China likes to have much more linkages between issues.”

She adds that calling Beijing a strategic partner and renewing the 2005 pact makes it unclear how Canada will manage Washington’s concerns about China’s trade practices.

“I don’t know if a strategic partnership is the exact right framing of that relationship,” she said. “It’s been brought back in the context of (us) celebrating 20 years, but I think we now need to actually explain to Canadians what that looks like.”