Indonesian president signs trade deal, defence pact with Canada

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has signed a trade agreement with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Parliament Hill. The trade deal is comprehensive, meaning it opens up trade in multiple industries with the world's fourth most populous country.

Last November both countries announced they had finished trade negotiations that started in 2021. Indonesia is looking to Canada for resources and for potential work on critical minerals and nuclear energy technology.

Indonesia's population of 280 million people is younger than most, and the country has been trying to wean itself off the carbon economy as it copes with threats to its biodiversity. Subianto says Canada is a ``very responsible, mature, leading power of the West'' but also one that has ``great empathy for the concerns of the developing nations.''