9th Carrefour Europe 2010 – Montreal, October 26

The largest gathering of the European Canadian business community in Montreal!

October 26, 2010; 2:00 – 7:30 p.m., Palais des congrès de Montréal

Eight European Chambers of Commerce, Consulates and Trade Commissions in Montreal are organizing the 9th Carrefour Europe 2010. You will have the opportunity to meet members and contacts of the Montreal European Chambers of Commerce and Trade Commissions in Montreal from Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, and Switzerland.

2 workshops will provide you with hands-on information on doing business with Europe:• Workshop I: Doing Business in Europe - How to Export and Invest in Europe.
• Workshop II: How to Prepare and Finance Your Exports to Europe?

For complete details consult: http://www.carrefour-europe.org or contact Ms. Anna-Lena Gruenagel at (514) 844-3051 or consulting.montreal@germanchamber.ca

EDC: Virtual Export Solutions Summit – November 2, 2010

(Export Development Canada)

Why does the global economic environment seem so uncertain? Do you understand the risks and barriers to trade and how they can be managed? Do you know your intellectual property rights?

Learn the answers on November 2, 2010. Export Development Canada (EDC) will present Export Solutions Summit, a free virtual conference and exhibition intended to provide Canadian exporters with information, tips and resources that will help them succeed in offshore markets.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010 – 12:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (EST)
Topics will include:

• Global Export Forecast (Fall)
• Seeing the Forest for the Trees – Case Study
• Intellectual Property When Entering New Markets

Register here fore this FREE virtual event.

Five Lessons from Germany About Winning on Exports

(Wall Street Journal Blogs – Ed Gershwin)

Sprechen Sie Trade?

When it comes to exports, the United States could learn something from Germany.

In the second quarter, Germany’s economy grew at a blistering annual rate of 9%, almost all of which was due to robust exports. In August, German manufacturing orders expanded by a healthy 3.4%, driven by strong foreign demand for products like Audis in China. America’s economy is four times larger than Germany’s, but Germans export more manufactured goods than us, and those exports account for over a third of Germany’s GDP.

Germany exports aggressively because it must. Unlike the United States, where private consumption fueled 70% of our economy in pre-crisis years, Germany’s famously frugal consumers contribute only 57%. Germans can only prosper if exports fill the gap.

But after being battered by recession, America’s consumers are now almost Germanic – saving more and spending less. Economists estimate that, over the next several years, the private sector share of U.S. GDP will remain about three percentage points below 2003-07 levels.

President Obama is wisely seeking to close this gap – and to create good American jobs – by doubling U.S. exports, but there are no magic formulas for doing this. So, as it pursues this vital goal, America might ask: “What would Dieter do?” Read more here.

Commodity Oddity

(Export Development Canada – Peter G. Hall)

May, 2010 was just a few days old when the world economy hit a troubling inflection point. Concerns about the viability of Southern European economies combined with slowing growth to sour recovery hopes. Pundits are now proclaiming modest growth in unison, but commodity markets must have the earplugs in. Prices should be falling, but instead they are going the other way. What’s going on?

Commodity prices generally line up well with the economic cycle. The CRB spot price index, a weighted average of all commodity prices, fell during the recessions of the early 1980s and the early 1990s, the global turbulence in 1997-98, the 2001 slowdown and most dramatically in the recent Great Recession. The world economy slowed abruptly in the second quarter of this year, and third-quarter growth weakened further. In stark contrast to this consistent historical record, today’s prices are high and pushing toward the early-2008 peak. Is this, as some believe, a new reality?

Read more and/or watch the video here.

Fewer SMEs Exporting Than in 2000: CIBC

(The Toronto Sun – QMI Agency)

The number of small businesses in the export business is falling, and the low level of internationalization carries a significant cost to the wider economy, including lost jobs, CIBC World Markets said in a report Tuesday.

Only 9% of Canadian small- and medium-sized enterprises are in the export business today, down from 10.7% in 2000, a troubling trend given the importance of emerging markets to the global economic recovery.

CIBC estimates the moderate decline in SME trade activity over the last decade impacted no less than 300,000 jobs in terms of actual job loss and foregone opportunities. Read more here.

Administration Receives Recommendations on How to Double Exports in Five Years

(World Trade Interactive)

The Export Promotion Cabinet, a group consisting of the heads of various federal departments and agencies with trade functions, provided to President Obama Sept. 16 a report with recommendations on how the U.S. can double its exports within five years, as called for by the president’s National Export Initiative. The report states that this is an ambitious goal that “will only happen if U.S. companies, farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises – the engines of economic growth – receive the encouragement and support they need as they seek new markets for their goods and services.”

The report identifies a number of steps that have already been taken, such as organizing more trade missions to and from the U.S. and increasing loan approvals that support export shipments, but focuses on the following recommendations for future action. Read more here.

EDC Business Volumes in Emerging Markets Up 28% over 2009

(Canada NewsWire)

Export Development Canada (EDC) today [Monday] announced that its business volumes in emerging markets reached $10.8 billion (all figures Canadian) in the first half of 2010, an increase of $2.4 billion, or 28%, over the same period last year.

“Emerging markets attracted Canadian exporters and investors looking for the best opportunities for growth during the first half, a positive trend for Canadian trade,” said Eric Siegel, President and CEO of EDC. “While some of this increase is influenced by continued slow growth in the U.S., EDC is encouraged because the types of transactions we’re seeing demonstrates a longer-term interest in emerging market business.”

Mr. Siegel added that EDC’s total business volume for the first half ending June 30, 2010 was $37.5 billion compared to $38.2 billion for the same period last year. Total business volume represents the sum of transactions supported throughout all of EDC’s business lines, including financing, guarantees, insurance, bonding and others.

“EDC’S business volumes are on par with the same period last year and on track to meet our forecast for year-end. These volumes are driven by Canadian companies expanding their relationships abroad, a positive trend as we slowly emerge from the global recession,” Mr. Siegel said. Read more here.

Canada to Bolster Latin American Relations

(The Globe and Mail)

Canada will continue to bolster relationships in Latin America through more free-trade agreements and the support of Canadian companies doing business there, Canada’s trade minister said Friday.

The federal government is in free-trade talks with many countries in the region, including Guatemala and Honduras, and will table a bill this fall for an FTA with Panama, Peter Van Loan said in a speech to a Toronto audience. Canada has strengthened ties with the region in recent years, and more Canadian companies are expanding there because of its high growth potential and geographic proximity.

“These countries are aggressively moving forward, embracing science, technology and innovation as never before, and reaching out to the world for business opportunities,” he said. Panama, he added, is a key market because of its “unique place in the global trading system,” where expansion plans for the canal are generating opportunities for Canadian companies.

Export Initiative to Emphasize Small Business

(Journal of Commerce Online – R.G.Edmonson)

President’s program focuses SBA, Ex-Im Bank, other agencies on initiative

The federal government will step up its efforts to help U.S. exporters sell goods abroad, the White House said Thursday.

Several agencies will increase the number of trade missions and encourage foreign buyers to come to U.S. exhibitions, according to a report developed by the Export Promotion Cabinet, which includes the Secretaries of Commerce, State, Treasury, Agriculture and Labor and the heads of all the trade-related government agencies. The government will also be a commercial advocate for U.S. firms competing for international contracts and work to break down barriers to trade.

The report puts trade promotion for small and medium-sized enterprises at the top of the priority list. The Small Business Administration identified more than 2,000 potential exporters in its central contract registration. Read more here.

Officials Say Obama’s Plan to Boost Exports on Track

(Bridges Weekly)

U.S. President Barack Obama’s National Export Initiative (NEI) is on track to double U.S. exports over the next five years, trade officials in Washington announced Monday. Gary Locke, the U.S. Commerce Secretary pointed towards the 17% increase in exports from this time last year, rising to slightly over US$1 billion. In order to achieve the five year goal, U.S. exports would have to maintain a year on year increase of about 15%.

The encouraging indicators come from sources including the Commerce Department and the Export-Import Bank. The Obama administration says these data suggest the NEI will reach or exceed the intended goal.

Critics, however, say the data is not being portrayed accurately and have expressed doubts that the 15% growth rate can be maintained. That the base data year being used by the Obama administration is 2009, a year which saw a three year low for U.S. exports, they say. Read more here.

Trade: Canada’s Great Hope

(Export Development Canada – Peter G. Hall)

Gloom abounds in the world economy, and with good reason. Surviving the current episode is critical, but growth eventually will recover, and hopes for longer-term prosperity will brighten. Strategies for success in the coming growth cycle are already being crafted. Is Canada well-placed to succeed?

Canada’s economic challenges don’t end when recovery begins. At that point, market watchers will no doubt say in unison, “The long run is now”. Ageing of the population is no longer tomorrow’s issue, as Canada, for the first time ever, soon moves to the point where potential retirees outnumber young labour force entrants. Low trend investment threatens to further hobble recovery, and Canada’s poor productivity record won’t help. What makes these challenges more serious is that they affect the key building blocks of the economy: labour, capital and productivity. Future constraints on all three elements have led to estimates of potential growth that pale in comparison to recent experience.

Read more and/or watch the video here.

Manitoba Premier to Lead Trade Mission to China and Philippines

(Canada-Asia News – Government of Manitoba)

Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger and Lt.-Gov. Philip Lee will lead a trade mission of 40 individuals representing almost 30 companies and organizations to the Asia-Pacific region later this month to promote trade and tourism. The 11-day mission will include stops in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Manila.

Premier Selinger noted the province’s new inland port, CentrePort Canada, is attracting a lot of attention in China. “One of the ways Manitoba is building its trading relationships with China and other markets is through its support for CentrePort, Manitoba’s new 20,000-acre inland port and multi-modal transportation hub, which is part of Canada’s Asia-Pacific Gateway and offers supply-chain options for companies doing business in international and North American markets.”

In 2009, Manitoba’s total trade with the Asia-Pacific region was $2 billion.

Canada Concerned About Weakness in Exports-Flaherty

(Reuters)

Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Thursday he is concerned by Canada’s record trade deficit and he called on the private sector to “step up” investment to become more productive to help support economic growth.

“We are concerned about some weakness in exports,” Flaherty told reporters in Kitchener, Ontario. “We need the private sector to continue to step up, start to invest ... to help create more jobs than we’ve seen in Canada, more investment in machinery and equipment.”

Flaherty said that data was starting to show that business investment was coming back, which was encouraging when looking at the longer-term view of the economy.

Export Development Canada Showcases Construction, Infrastructure Specialists

(Daily Commercial News)

Export Development Canada has a team of specialists for Canadian construction and infrastructure exporters to tap into for innovative business solutions and international expansion opportunities.

“We are trying to strive for what our customers are asking for and responding to those needs and with current technology, it is easier to do that,” said Marie-Claude Erian, sector advisor for infrastructure and environment at Export Development Canada (EDC). EDC recently held a webinar showcasing its infrastructure and financial specialists in a panel discussion setting.

EDC’s project-support solutions cover financing, bonding, credit insurance, political risk insurance and project financing, all areas that can help Canadian exporters in the construction, infrastructure and environmental fields.

“People are more familiar with our credit services,” Erian said. “We are often asked through our surveys by customers about wanting to know more about what else EDC does.

“For the panel, this was the first time we had our five key product services before customers online at the same time.”

EDC’s online webinar events are proving to be very effective in reaching its clients, said Erian. Read more here.

Export Development Canada Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Mexico Representation

(Export Development Canada)

Export Development Canada (EDC) is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the opening of its first of two representations in Mexico, capping a decade in which the Canadian export credit agency undertook almost CAD 20 billion in business volume in the Mexican market.

“Mexico has been a longstanding market of choice for Canadian exporters and investors because of the natural matches between the key sectors in our countries,” said Stephen Poloz, Senior Vice-President of Financing, EDC, who is in Mexico this week to meet with EDC's Mexican customers, partners and Canadian clients. “The billions in business between EDC and our Mexican customers reflect the esteem that Canadian companies have for the energy and growth focus of the Mexican market.”

EDC provides financial solutions to Mexican companies that have or are considering Canadian suppliers or partners. The key sectors of EDC related trade between Canada and Mexico are mining, oil and gas, infrastructure and the environment, telecommunications and transportation. Read the complete press release here.

Pushing Trade with Panama

(Toronto Sun – Laura Payton)

The federal government will present a law this fall to formally endorse a trade deal with Panama, International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan said Monday. Van Loan and Panamanian Commerce and Industry Minister Roberto Henríquez signed the agreement in May, but Canada still has to pass a law to bring it into force.

The government says the agreement will cut tariffs against raw Canadian goods like agricultural products, wood, pulp and paper products, seafood, and iron and steel, as well as finished exports like machinery, cars, aerospace and pharmaceuticals.

Panama had the highest GDP growth in the Americas in 2008. The country is expanding its famous canal, which should be done in 2014. The government hopes the expansion will mean more work in engineering and construction, and more material exports.

“Panama plays a pivotal role in the movement of goods around the world. This vital gateway is currently under expansion, a great opportunity to generate jobs and investment for Canadian companies,” Van Loan said.

Medical Devices Reimbursement Workshops – Winnipeg & Edmonton, Sept 20-23

(FAITC)

Date: September 20-23, 2010
Location: Winnipeg and Edmonton, Canada

Contact: Cynthia Stevenson, Trade Commissioner (Health Industries), Canadian Embassy, Washington, D.C. cynthia.stevenson@international.gc.ca

One-day workshops in Winnipeg and Edmonton for medical device companies on developing a market strategy that integrates reimbursement, the FDA regulatory process, securing investment/VC partners, and successful commercialization through appropriate business partners and distribution channels.

FDA Pre-Market Approval Workshops – Toronto & Montreal, Sept.21-23

(FAITC)

Date: September 21 to 23, 2010
Location: Toronto and Montreal, Canada

Contact: Cynthia Stevenson, Trade Commissioner (Health Industries), Canadian Embassy, Washington, D.C. cynthia.stevenson@international.gc.ca

Two specialists from the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health will present day-long workshops to Canadian manufacturers of medical devices and technologies and supporting institutional stakeholders that are approaching completion of product development with intent to export to the U.S. in the near term. The workshops address in-depth the requirements for Pre-Market Notification (510(k)) and Pre-Market Approval (PMA) procedures for the importation of medical devices and technologies into the U.S.

Canada Can’t Ignore ASEAN Region

(Canadian Manufacturing.com)

Already seen as a laggard in China and India, Canada can ill afford to miss out on the economic boom in Southeast Asia

Canada has dragged its heels developing trade with southeast Asian nations, and a scathing report says that gaffe has left us on the margins while other countries organize lucrative pacts in one of the most important economic regions in the world. The report, released today by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, a Vancouver-based think-tank that assesses Canada’s relations with Asia, says Canada’s lack of a “consistent and sustained policy” towards the region was ill-advised and now puts us behind economic forces such as India, China and the US in trying to organize trade with those countries.

The region, commonly known as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. Individually, these nations have little economic clout, but together they represent a market of 600 million people with a burgeoning middle class.

The association’s statistics-gathering agency ASEANStats has GDP pegged at US$1.5 trillion and 2008 trade of nearly US$1.9 trillion. If this were one country, it would represent the world’s 10th largest economy.

The report criticizes Canada for failing to sign free-trade agreements with any of these countries while New Zealand and Australia, India and South Korea already have agreements and the U.S. has begun negotiating.

Read more here and click here to view the report.

Governments of Canada and BC Launch Asia Trade Program

(Canada Asia News – BC Ministry of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development)

Joint funding of $2,030,000 for the BC Economic Innovation Partnership Program, a program to boost trade and investment with Asia, was announced by the Government of Canada and the Province of BC. The BC Economic Innovation Partnership Program supports activities that promote trade and investment between Asia and BC such as seminars, inbound and outbound trade missions and online marketing initiatives.

The program involves businesses, academia, industry associations and various levels of government. One element of the program is an initial business accelerator pilot project operating out of the Province’s Trade and Investment Representative Office in Bangalore, India. Through this pilot project, companies from BC can temporarily set-up shop at the trade office and tap the staff’s on-the-ground expertise and network of contacts while exploring the Indian market, developing partnerships and creating business opportunities.