Canadian businesses on scouting mission
Published:Thursday | April 14, 2022 | 12:12 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
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Scores of Canadian businesses are looking to set up shop across the Caribbean amid the retreat of the coronavirus pandemic, the North American country’s minister of international trade and export promotion, Mary Ng, has said. Ng, who arrived in...
Scores of Canadian businesses are looking to set up shop across the Caribbean amid the retreat of the coronavirus pandemic, the North American country’s minister of international trade and export promotion, Mary Ng, has said.
Ng, who arrived in the island on Wednesday, is on a two-day visit where she is currently promoting the 170 mostly small Canadian companies.
The visit forms part of a wider hybrid trade mission to the region as Canada looks to shore up its economy, largely driven by international trade, which represents 66 per cent of GDP and 2.4 per cent of global trade in goods and services.
In a Gleaner interview hours after her arrival from Guyana, Ng said that the companies are seeking to explore opportunities for trade, investment, and export.
“It’s really excellent, especially now coming out of COVID and on to that road to economic recovery that Canadian businesses are interested in and wanting to expand their businesses, looking at export opportunities here in the Caribbean. It’s certainly here in Jamaica,” Ng, who also has charge of the small business and economic development portfolios, said.
“I think what we’re trying to do is to always advance the relationship and create the right conditions for our businesses to grow. For Canada, what is really important is inclusive growth.”
Jamaica is Canada’s third-largest merchandise trading partner within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) behind Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.
In 2020, two-way merchandise trade between Jamaica and Canada totalled CDN$207 million.
Jamaica’s imports from Canada, which included meat and pharmaceutical products and electrical machinery, amounted to CDN$122.2 million, while its exports were valued at CDN$84.8 million and consisted mainly of aluminium oxides, prepared foodstuffs, and beverages and spirits.
The minister said that the businesses scouting opportunities are involved in the services, information and communication technologies, and clean-technology sectors.
Ng said that exporters would be paying keen attention to the investment climate and the country’s human capital.
Only Sunday, Paul B. Scott, CEO and chairman of the Musson Group, bemoaned Jamaica’s diminishing pool of skilled labour, cautioning that capital investment flow would be influenced by workforce readiness to execute projects.
Ng said she is working to ensure that the businesses that are looking to Jamaica as a market get the necessary support.
“What I’m doing is a little bit about putting the cart before the horse, which is helping businesses look for opportunities here in Jamaica and in the Caribbean,” Ng said.
But while CARICOM countries have had a trading relationship with Canada under the non-reciprocal Canada-CARICOM Trade Agreement since the 1980s, the North American country suspended negotiations in 2015 for a free trade agreement with the bloc.
The launch of negotiations towards a Canada-CARICOM free trade agreement was initially announced in 2007, with several rounds of talks occurring. However, the two were not able to reach an agreement, having had different objectives.
Trade between Canada and CARICOM totalled US$1.7 billion in 2019, with Canadian exports amounting to more than US$900 million while its imports from member states topped US$700 million.
“Of course, we’re always interested in building out our trade relationship, but in this case, what I’m seeing are companies that are interested in being on the ground, and I’m happy to support that,” she said.