‘Winnipeg will become the hub’

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This article was published 14/04/2019 (1837 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba is getting back its trade commission office that was shipped out to Calgary under the previous federal government.

International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr was in Winnipeg to announce the return of the office that helps local companies export into foreign markets. The office will likely to be located in the city’s downtown or Exchange District.

“Winnipeg will become the hub,” Carr said. “We will restore Winnipeg, which had lost its status.”

Ottawa will invest $3 million over the next five years for five trade commissioners to better serve small and medium-sized businesses, Carr said. The office will serve both Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

“This is fantastic,” said Don Leitch, CEO of Business Council of Manitoba, which has been lobbying for the office’s return.

The office will give the region “the ability to take full advantage of our capacity for exports,” Leitch said.

The trade commission is especially vital now that the Pallister government recently closed the provincial trade commission office, despite protests from the business council, Leitch said.

“We know our economy is way larger because of exports than it would be otherwise, but we have to take advantage of those trade options,” Leitch said. “The piece missing is often the strategic intelligence and advice.”

Carr made the announcement against a backdrop of giant green vats used to contain products made by Cypher Environmental Ltd. in Winnipeg. Cypher specializes in brand products like Dust Stop to control dust on industrial sites like underground mines and quarries.

Cypher president Todd Burns said the company has used the trade commissioner office extensively to penetrate an array of markets, including Chile, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Namibia, Guinea, China, the Philippines, Pakistan and Romania.

“We like to almost be ambassadors for the trade commission because we think a lot of companies don’t get it or don’t understand how to use it correctly,” Burns said.

Cypher’s biggest customer is the mining sector, but it has also done work for construction, oil and gas, forestry and agriculture. “Any company with private road networks are potential users of our technology,” Burns said.

Having the trade commission office in Winnipeg gives local companies an edge, he said.

“I’m a big believer in relationships,” Burns said. “In Winnipeg, we can get together for lunch, we can go to functions together, the trade office knows our bus better, they know our brand and they know how better to promote us than someone we’ve only talked to over the phone.”

The new trade commissioner is Ryan Collins, who returns after moving with the office to Calgary in 2012. “This is a rebuilding of our presence,” he said.

“I find companies relate better to people in their own province, and I understand the economy here,” Collins said. “I can get in my car, drive down to someone’s manufacturing facility and assist them.”

Canada has 160 offices with trade experts around the world.

Canada has recently signed a trade agreement with Europe, extended the trade agreement with the U.S., and signed the trans-Pacific partnership trade agreement with 10 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region: Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

That gives Canadian companies access to 1.5 billion customers. Having a bigger team of trade commissioners is going to help Canadian companies take advantage of those markets and trade agreements, Carr said.

 

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca