2013-01-18

Canadian Ambassador talks on Canada-Central Asia relations

January 17, 2013 - Students of the OSCE Academy had an opportunity to learn about the political, economic and diplomatic interests of Canada in Central Asia from the first hand source , as well as to ask sometimes very pointed questions to Mr. Stephen Millar - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan.

Canada's relations with Asia vary significantly between countries. During the meeting discussion included participation of Canada in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in Afghanistan and following diplomatic relations between these two countries, there were a lot of questions about bilateral relations between Canada and the Republic of Kazakhstan, Global Partnership Program and commercial agenda in Central Asia.

Bio: His Excellency Stephen Millar received his BA Hons and MA in Soviet and East European Studies at Carleton University in 1982 after which he joined the Department of External Affairs and International Trade and worked as an analyst of Soviet bloc economies in the Economic Intelligence Division until 1991, traveling often to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. From 1996 to 1998, Mr. Millar was an assistant to Canada's Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London. From 1991 to 1996 and from 1998 until 2007, he held a number of positions in the International Branch of the Department of Finance Canada, including, from 2004 to 2007, that of chief of the Department's International Institutions Section, where he was responsible for managing Canada's relations with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the EBRD. He was a senior trade commissioner at the Embassy of Canada to Russia, with simultaneous accreditation to Uzbekistan and Armenia. He succeeded Ms. Margaret Skok as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Tajikistan on July 20, 2009.