Diplomatica
Sri Lanka: gems, designer labels and famous tea
Diplomatic relations between Canada and Sri Lanka date back to the 1950s. From its inception, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has been a development partner to Sri Lanka. Against this background, our bilateral relations have evolved and the projects such as Colombo International Airport, the Canada-Sri Lanka Friendship Road, the Hardy Technical Training Institute, […]
Tanzania: trade and tourism are on the rise
I am grateful for this opportunity to comment on the main aspects of relations between Canada and Tanzania, and I will touch on three: trade, investment and tourism. With respect to trade, our two countries have close and long relations. Since 2009, Tanzania has been one of 20 countries, and only seven from Africa, that […]
Romania: fine wine and renewable energy
The embassy of Romania in Ottawa pursues two complementary trade objectives. The first is to stimulate bilateral dialogue to increase trade and identify new niches of economic co-operation. The second is to harmonize the bilateral relations between Romania and Canada with the commercial policies of the EU acquis (body of European Union law). Visits to […]
Norway’s oil explorers move to the High North
The strong Norwegian interest in global energy affairs stems from the fact that Norway is a major energy nation. With just five million people, our country is the world’s second-largest natural gas exporter, the fifth-largest petroleum exporter (oil and gas together) and sixth in the world in terms of hydropower production. We provide Europe with […]
Playing defence: hockey as a fundraiser
A hockey tradition, now three years old, started as a way for military attachés to get together with their colleagues from National Defence in a lighthearted, casual way. In the beginning, the team of military attachés posted to Ottawa from all over the world was a rag-tag bunch with ill-fitting gear but they had spirit […]
$25 buys water for an African child’s lifetime
Worldwide, 443 million school days are lost each year due to preventable water- and sanitation- related diseases. The lack of clean drinking water and basic toilet facilities in schools and communities throughout the developing world results in millions of children missing out on a chance to attend school, an experience which would equip them to […]
Final withholding tax in Switzerland
Switzerland has recently signed tax treaties — introducing something called “the final withholding tax” — with the United Kingdom and Germany. These treaties have aroused the interest of other governments in Europe (and overseas as well) and have given rise to significant public discussion. What is the final withholding tax and how does it work? […]
Life after the International Criminal Court
Canadian lawyer and diplomat Philippe Kirsch was the first president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and served as a judge on the court from 2003 to 2009. Prior to that, he worked for Foreign Affairs for 30 years. He served as assistant deputy minister for legal, consular and passport affairs, as deputy permanent rep- resentative […]
The high price of global retrenchment
Our globalized world is unraveling. This is not the end of globalization, but it is something we have seen before. It is called retrenchment. It is a phenomenon characterized by declining levels of interdependence in global trade and investment, beggar-thy-neighbour policies as states (especially new entrants in the global economy) look out for their own interests and don’t play by […]
Eliminating AIDS in Rwanda, one woman at a time
About 70 Rwandan women have been volunteer subjects since 2004 in a medical project to prevent HIV/AIDS, and, at the same time, to change attitudes toward the disease. About three per cent of Rwanda’s population carries HIV, but knowledge about the disease and its prevention is sparse. As well, going public is a tough choice […]
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