In July, the District of 老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料 Council decided to join the Whistler Forum's Harmony II Tour to Shanghai, China to advance our community's economic development initiatives.
The purpose of this trip is to investigate both opportunities for Chinese investment in our community and to assist development of markets for our products.
The District's representatives, Cameron Chalmers, General Manager of Community Services and myself, will be in Shanghai for one week.
The Whistler Forum led a successful tour to Beijing in September 2008, so we are attending with a group that already has expertise, relationships and government contacts in China.
For example, they have pre-arranged meetings with the Canadian Consul General and Trade Commissioner, the Managing Director, East China British Columbia Trade and Investment, the Canada-China Business Council, the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce and an Investment Fund representative.
We also have been preparing for weeks to ensure that we receive maximum exposure and the greatest economic benefit during our time in China.
We held a seminar attended by other delegates, local businesses with a relationship with China, our MLA Joan McIntyre, Chinese business brokers and other interested organizations such as School District 48, Tourism 老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料 and Quest University.
This event focused our efforts and we identified four business sectors to target: knowledge-based industry; tourism; transportation and education.
老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料 Coun. Paul Lalli, Chair of the Economic Development Committee, organized a meeting for myself and MLA Joan McIntyre with the Federal Trade Commissioner in Vancouver.
Our MLA also initiated direct dialogue with the East China British Columbia Trade and Investment Commission.
Local businessperson George Chang, who was on the first Harmony Tour of China, has assisted greatly with our preparations.
We have also met with other local business people with interests in China.
For example, we will be representing Quest University to facilitate enrollment, meeting with Grieg Star Shipping's (the parent company of 老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料 Terminals) representative in Shanghai and coordinating efforts with EchoFlex, as they have arranged to have two representatives in Shanghai at the same time.
The comprehensive itinerary that is developing is in furtherance of our existing economic development policy.
For example, we are using this initiative to implement a portion of our knowledge-based industry strategy.
One of the significant opportunities is the Sea to Sky Day at the Shanghai World Expo. We are inviting targetted guests to the Canada Pavilion where we will meet one-on-one with a variety of Chinese business and government representatives.
Our focus that day is to learn about local investor goals and objectives, strengthen our brand in China and introduce 老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料 as place open for business and a destination for travel.
No matter how much effort we put into this, there is never a guarantee of economic benefit.
However, given China's rising economic dominance (second now only to the U.S.), we think it is important to investigate the potential impacts, both positive and negative.
One thing I am sure of is that upon return, the district of 老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料 will have a much better understanding of the economic opportunities associated with China's growth.
