Canada's United Nations ambassador Marc-Andre Blanchard has encouraged Canadian companies to start diversifying in the developing world before it is too late for them. Blanchard said Chinese state-backed firms have been investing heavily in the region and it would not take long for world's second largest economy to dominate the market.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also a speech prepared for the 73rd UN General Assembly that kicked off this week. He will urge for Canadian companies to increase their investments in the developing world to support UN's aim of reducing global poverty by creating sustainable investments.
Blanchard said China is currently the most influential player in the developing world because of it's numerous and significant investments in the region. The UN ambassador explained that the Chinese government controls its firms' capital whenever they invest internationally. The country has invested $120 billion in the last six to seven years in Africa, building infrastructure in the region.
The Canadian UN ambassador said his country could decide to partner with China, especially if it will be beneficial to the country's interest. An investment independent of an international tie, however, will also be good for Canada, Blanchard said. Instead of working on the same projects with China, Canada could offer the alternative for the developing world, he said.
Meanwhile, Trudeau's speech at the UN assembly will also touch on Canada's push for a UN Security Council seat in which it will also find itself in rivalry with China. The latter has also been enhancing its influence in the UN.
The Guardian reported that China now has become "the pillar of UN peacekeeping." The country now accounts for the 10.25 percent of the overall UN peacekeeping budget compared to a mere 3 percent back in 2013. Beijing has in fact to complete a $1 billion budgetary support for UN's peacekeeping initiatives for the next five years. The country has trained over 8,000 military troops that will be on-call for UN peacekeeping operations.
China's saw the opportunity to increase its presence in the UN when the United States decided to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council and UNESCO.
Washington, in fact, has plans to cut its budgetary aid to UN's peacekeeping efforts. U.S. ambassador to the UN, Nikki Hayley, has said the United States is just getting started on its UN budget cuts.
This year, there are 133 world leaders who gave their commitment in attending the 73rd UN General Assembly session. The 2017 session of the same event only saw 114 attendees. Other expected guests are U.S. president Donald Trump, President Andrzej from Poland, and Premier Giuseppe Conte from Italy. The foreign ministers of Hungary and Austria are also expected to attend.
The high-level debate, touted as the most anticipated part of the program, will start on Sept. 25 and is planned to last for nine working days.
