The
New Atlantic Investment Partnership
June 29, 2000
The Prime Minister today announced a fresh
approach to regional economic development in Atlantic Canada: The Atlantic
Investment Partnership (AIP).
The AIP is the outcome in large part of the
creative team work of the Atlantic Liberal Caucus, whose landmark report, Atlantic
Canada:Catching Tomorrow’s Wave, found a broad regional consensus that the
federal government had to find new ways to assist the region find its place in
the global knowledge-based economy.
It is a bold plan designed to ensure not only
that Atlantic Canadians can take their rightful place in the new economy, but
that they can make their place at home - in Atlantic Canada.
The $700-million, five-year federal initiative,
is a balanced mix of strategic investments and initiatives designed to build new
partnerships that will strengthen the capacity of all Atlantic Canadians to
innovate and compete in the new economy.
Its focus will be building on existing and
emerging Atlantic strengths and helping to close the innovation, export,
entrepreneurship and skills gaps that must be closed if Atlantic Canada is to
realize its full economic potential.
Its method will be by way of partnerships:
partnerships with governments, communities, businesses, universities, colleges
and research institutes.
The AIP will help close the innovation gap
through a $300 million Atlantic Investment Fund.
The Fund will make strategic investments to
strengthen innovation capacity, increase the region’s competitiveness and
encourage the region’s transition to a more knowledge-based economy.
The Fund will invest in universities and
colleges, research labs and in the private sector in an open and competitive
basis. Investments will facilitate strategic alliances that bring together
research talent, new ideas and entrepreneurship.
Investments will be overseen by an Advisory Board
made up of academics and business leaders in the R&D and high-technology
fields.
The Fund will also assist the region take better
advantage of our national innovation programs, such as: the Canada Foundation of
Innovation, the 21st Century Chairs for Research Excellence and the
Canadian Institutes for Health Research.
The National Research Council will also invest
$110 million for the expansion of its facilities in Atlantic Canada and to help
build globally competitive businesses in communities right across the region.
The AIP will help close the export gap through a
new Partnership for Trade and Investment. It will enhance the region’s export
capacity, with a special focus on its largest trading partner: the United
States.
The cornerstone of this renewed effort will be an
"Investing in Atlantic Canada" program designed to feature the region
as a prime location for American investment.
The AIP will help close the entrepreneurship gap
through our Partnership for Entrepreneurship and Skills Development - whose key
focus will be enhancing the innovation capacity of small and medium sized
business.
The AIP help close the technological and economic
gaps between rural and urban centres in the region. Our Partnership for
Community Economic Development will see up to $135 million invested to give
rural communities the tools and opportunities they need to become full partners
in the new economy.
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