For Immediate Release
February 4th 2010
OTTAWA – Liberals are working on Parliament Hill today by hosting a forum on how government and business can work together to unlock trade and export opportunities in a sustainable China. Co-hosts MP Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra) and MP Scott Brison (Kings Hants), who serves as the Liberal International Trade Critic, invited a diverse background of participants from government, business and stakeholder communities to attend today’s event.
“What we heard today from participants is that government needs to do more to support small and medium sized Canadian enterprises as they try and unlock the vast business opportunities in China” said Ms. Murray. “When government plays a supporting role, linking the business community, more can be accomplished together than these companies would be able to accomplish on their own. We saw this with the success of the Team Canada trade missions to China that were led by former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien and resulted in several bilateral relations agreements.”
Today’s forum acted as a practical sharing and networking opportunity for participants that will set the stage for future meetings and prepare participants for future trade forums such as March’s conference in Shenzhen. The forum included the Canada China Business Council, the Hong Kong Canada Business Association, the Canadian CleanTech Fund, the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance as well as many other organizations and representatives.
Mr. Brison explained that “China is focused on greening its economy. This represents a tremendous opportunity for Canadian clean-tech workers and businesses.” He continued by saying that “given the role of the state in China’s economy, we need our federal government to play a much larger role in helping Canadians realize these opportunities.”
-30-
Contact:
Office of MP Joyce Murray: (613) 992-2430
Office of MP Scott Brison: (613) 995-8231