March/April 2009

PROVINCE STRENGTHENS BILATERAL TIES WITH THE ASIA PACIFIC

     I would like to welcome you to the March / April issue of the A-News, our B.C. Alumni Ambassadors Newsletter. British Columbia’s ties with the Asia Pacific have been strengthened over the past months by the opening of new Trade and Investment Representative Offices in Beijing and Guangzhou, China, and the opening of the Asia Pacific Business Centre at Robson Square in B.C.’s business hub of Vancouver. 
     The opening of our Beijing and Guangzhou offices in February brings the number of B.C. trade and investment offices in Asia to five. The Province has offices in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul, and we expect to open an additional office in Bengaluru, India this summer.
China is British Columbia’s second-largest trading partner and is a vital and growing export market for our products. Our Trade and Investment Representative Offices bring proven local, on-the-ground connections and expertise to help B.C. companies connect with potential partners. 
     To complement the Province’s Asia-based trade and investment offices, a new Asia-Pacific Business Centre in Vancouver was officially opened in March. Staffed by country market specialists, the Centre will serve as a hub for increasing trade, investment and innovation partnerships between British Columbia and markets in Asia. 
     In 2008, bilateral trade between British Columbia and the Asia-Pacific, including India, was worth $28.2 billion, an increase of over $10 billion or nearly 56 per cent compared to 1999. Over this same period of time, British Columbia’s exports to these Asian markets increased by 52 per cent. 
     I look forward to hearing from you as we leverage our relationships to develop exciting economic partnerships between B.C. and Asia.




Honourable Ida Chong, FCGA
Minister of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development
http://www.gov.bc.ca/sted/

At the opening of B.C.’s Trade and Investment Representative Office in Beijing, China (From left): Zhang Yingxin, Deputy Director General of the China Investment Promotion Agency; Minister Ida Chong; Jin Xu, Director General of the Department of American and Oceanian Affairs; Robert Wright, Canadian Ambassador to China; and Kevin Tsui, British Columbia’s Beijing Trade and Investment Representative.

At the opening of B.C.’s Trade and Investment Office in Guangzhou, China (From left): Cathy Yao, British Columbia’s Guangzhou Trade and Investment Representative; Chen Wenjie, President of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Guangdong Sub-Council; Minister Ida Chong; Liang Guixuan, Deputy Director General of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation; and David Bostwick, acting Canadian Consul General in Guangzhou.

B.C.’s TRADE AND INVESTMENT OFFICES IN ASIA

NORTH CHINA, BEIJING (Fully Operational April 2009)

 Priority sectors include:
• Advanced Energy / Environmental Technologies
• Life Sciences
• Information and Communications Technology / New Media
• Financial and Professional Services - including Construction and Design 

Kevin Tsui
Managing Director, North China
British Columbia Trade and Investment Representative Office
Email: asia.pacific@gov.bc.ca

Office Address:
The Executive Centre
Level 12, China Resources Building
8 Jianguomenbei Avenue
Dongcheng District
Beijing 100005, P.R. China

SOUTH CHINA, GUANGZHOU

Priority sectors include:
• Advanced Energy / Environmental Technologies
• Information and Communications Technology
• Financial and Professional Services
• Construction and Design

Cathy Yao
Managing Director, South China
British Columbia Trade and Investment Representative Office
Email: asia.pacific@gov.bc.ca

Office Address:
10F Skyframe Tower
8 Linhe Zhong Road, Tianhe District
Guangzhou, Guangdong 510610


INDIA, BENGALURU (Opening 2009)

Priority sectors include:
• Advanced Energy / Environmental Technologies
• Life Sciences
• Information and Communications Technology
• Education 

Pratap Raju
Managing Director, Technology, Research and Innovation
British Columbia Trade and Investment Representative Office
Email: asia.pacific@gov.bc.ca

Office Address:
Opening 2009
 

EAST CHINA, SHANGHAI

Priority sectors include:
• Advanced Energy / Environmental Technologies
• Construction and Design
• Advanced Technology
• Information and Communications Technology
• Financial and Business Services

John McDonald
Managing Director, East China
British Columbia Trade and Investment Representative Office
Email: asia.pacific@gov.bc.ca

Office Address:
Suite 2082, Level 20, The Center, 989 Changle Road,
Shanghai 200031, China

JAPAN, TOKYO

Priority sectors include:
• Life Sciences
• Advanced Energy / Environmental Technologies
• New Media
• Information and Communications Technology
• Financial and Business Services

Mr. Avrom (Avi) Salsberg
Managing Director, Japan
British Columbia Trade and Investment Representative Office
Email: asia.pacific@gov.bc.ca

Office Address:
Ark Mori Bldg. 12F, 1-12-32 Akasaka
Minato-ku 107-6012, Tokyo, Japan

KOREA, SEOUL

Priority sectors include:
• Advanced Energy / Environmental Technologies
• New Media
• Information and Communications Technology
• Life Sciences

Mr. Kyung-Suk Kim
Managing Director, Korea
British Columbia Trade and Investment Representative Office
Email: asia.pacific@gov.bc.ca

Office Address:
41F Gangnam Finance Center
Yeoksam 1-dong, Gangnam-gu
Seoul 135-984 Korea


 

CANADA'S PACIFIC GATEWAY

British Columbia’s international website is now available in Japanese, Korean, Spanish and German, in addition to English, French, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese at www.canadaspacificgateway.ca.

This multilingual website provides a central platform for international audiences to access information on British Columbia in five categories: invest and trade, live, work, study and visit.
In the next two months, we look forward to adding Punjabi and Hindi versions of the site, bringing the total number of languages to 10.

We encourage all alumni ambassadors to take a moment to navigate through the site and invite your colleagues and contacts to do the same. You can share your thoughts with us at canadaspacificgateway@gov.bc.ca.
 

NEWS ABOUT B.C.

B.C. SPONSORS ASIA-PACIFIC PANEL AT BIOPARTNERING SHOW

In February, B.C. welcomed delegates from Japan, South Korea and China to BioPartnering North America 2009, a top international life sciences partnering conference.
The Province sponsored a panel discussion featuring prominent business leaders and academics from the Asia Pacific who have built successful partnerships in life sciences and biopharmaceuticals. The panellists discussed topics including global opportunities, emerging technologies in Asia, the roles of academia and governments, technology transfer and commercialization strategies and challenges.
British Columbia is the seventh largest biotechnology centre in North America by number of companies, and the fastest growing in Canada. The sector employs approximately 2,700 people with annual revenues worth approximately $700 million.
 

MEET SOME B.C. ALUMNI SERVING AS CABINET MINISTERS

Honourable George Abbott, BA (UBC), MA (UVic)

George Abbott was appointed Minister of Health on June 16, 2005.
He previously served as Minister of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services and Minister of Sustainable Resource Management.
Mr. Abbott also served as Deputy House Leader for the Official Opposition and was critic for municipal affairs and for forests.
He was Deputy Chair of the Select Standing Committees on Forests and Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, and was a member of the Select Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs. He also sat on the Official Opposition Caucus Committee on Crime.
Mr Abbott was first elected in 1996 to represent the riding of Shuswap and was re-elected in 2001 and 2005.
Before his election to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Abbott was a political science instructor at Okanagan University College. He also owned the oldest and largest berry farm in the Interior.
 

Honourable Kevin Falcon, BA (SFU)

Kevin Falcon was re-appointed Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure on June 16, 2005.
He previously served as Minister of State for Deregulation.
Mr. Falcon was first elected in 2001 to represent the riding of Surrey-Cloverdale and re-elected in 2005.
Before his election to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Falcon was president of the Access Group, a corporate communications firm he formed in 1998. He has also worked in the real estate development industry and was vice-president of Northwest Investment Properties. Prior to attending university, Mr. Falcon spent five years working in the general insurance industry.
He received his bachelor of arts from Simon Fraser University and his real estate sales and mortgage broker’s diploma from the University of British Columbia.
 

Published by The B.C. Alumni Ambassadors Network Team, Ministry of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development. We welcome your comments and suggestions, write us at bcalumni@gov.bc.ca
Visit us at our website: www.bcalumni.ca