Celebrating Canada's Year of Asia Pacific

Because our membership in APEC is the manifestation of our identity as a Pacific nation. Part of the Pacific Rim -- the most dynamic, fastest-growing market in the world. The region of the next millennium. And what anchors us in this region -- not just in geography -- but in attitude, in mind set, in vision... is British Columbia.

To just about everybody in BC that is not news. That is a reality they have understood for a long time. That is why British Columbia business has been among the most aggressive at seeking new markets across the Pacific. But as usual with many of the good trends that start on the West Coast, they sometimes take a while to catch on back East.

Of course, the fact is that we have been a Pacific nation for most of our history as a country -- when British Columbia joined Confederation in 1871. And we didn't even realize it. We were too preoccupied with the mother countries across our other ocean. Or our vast neighbour to the south.

When our government came to office we were determined to change this. We said in the Red Book that we would strengthen Canada's trading relationships with the nations of the Pacific Rim. And we set to doing it the day we were sworn in. We appointed the first-ever member of the ministry dedicated to Pacific issues, Raymond Chan, the Secretary of State for Asia Pacific. And just two weeks after taking office, my very first foreign trip as Prime Minister was to the first APEC Leaders Meeting in Seattle.

And we haven't looked back since. I had the honour to lead two of the most successful trade missions in Canadian history -- the two Team Canada Trade Missions to Asia. With an all-star team of provincial premiers and business people, we proved to the countries of the Pacific Rim that after years of false starts and half measures, Canada was serious about the Pacific region -- and we were there to stay.

The first Team Canada mission to China was two years ago this month. Last January we took Team Canada on the road again, to India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia. And the results have been billions of dollars in deals for Canadian businesses, thousands of new jobs for Canadians, and a new profile and prominence for Canada in Asia.

So, as you can see, developing Canada's Pacific identity has been a major priority for the government. And for me personally. And that priority continues.

That is why, our biggest-yet Pacific initiative lies ahead of us -- 1997 -- Canada's Year of Asia Pacific. It will be a celebration of Canadian involvement and participation in the region.

It will be an opportunity to take stock of our accomplishments and demonstrate our strong ties to the Asia-Pacific community. And a launching pad to catapult that relationship to an even higher level.

The culmination of Canada's Year of the Pacific will be the 1997 APEC Leaders Meeting -- to be held here in Vancouver next November.

Canada takes over as APEC chair following the Manila meeting. Our priority will be to help move APEC further along toward the goal of achieving free and open trade and investment in the region for developed countries by 2010 and for developing countries by 2020.

Obviously our economic agenda is very important. But Canada's Year of Asia Pacific encompasses much more than APEC.

Last week, here in Vancouver, my colleagues David Anderson and Raymond Chan announced this special Year as a showcase for Canadians to celebrate their important role in the Asia-Pacific community. They have invited business, cultural and youth groups to launch projects that would throw a spotlight on the rich diversity of Canada's relations with our Asia Pacific partners, and help us build upon our expanding ties.

The ideas for those projects are now coming in, and I can assure you today that Canada's Year of Asia Pacific will be a remarkable celebration of commerce, culture and enlightenment. I encourage all of you to get involved. There is a lot to celebrate.

Just look at Vancouver. I have come to this great city of Vancouver many times throughout my life, and many times since becoming prime minister. I am always struck by the buzz of international business here.

I am impressed by the freighters resting at anchor in English Bay, waiting their turn to slip under the Lion's Gate Bridge to load or unload their cargoes. On one of my recent visits, I opened the extension of Vancouver International Airport. According to Canadian Airlines, their Asian traffic has contributed to a 75% increase in passengers here since 1991.

Much of BC's prosperity has been built on trade and investment with Asia Pacific. Of course BC's big resource companies in mining and forestry have found major markets in Japan and China and Indonesia.

But I also know from my experience in leading Team Canada missions to Asia that many small- and medium-sized companies are creating jobs here at home from contracts signed abroad. And their local suppliers are also benefitting.

Vancouver benefits from substantial Asia-Pacific investment. You only have to look at the transformation of False Creek to recognize the importance of foreign investment. Asian companies have played important roles in the traditional resource industries here.

Where Vancouver has led, the rest of Canada has followed. Partnership with Asia Pacific is now a pan-Canadian phenomenon. It extends across our vast country.

The companies who joined me and the premiers in Team Canada missions, signing business deals worth billions of dollars, can be found in every province in Canada.

Raw numbers tell the story of our commercial success. Canadian exports to Asia Pacific increased by 32 per cent from 1994 to 1995, reaching a total of $27.1 billion. Our exports to Japan rose 24 per cent and to Southeast Asia -- Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia -- 47 per cent.

At the same time, the contributions of Asian investment to our economic growth can be seen across Canada -- from oil sands plants in Fort MacMurray, Alberta to car factories in Cambridge, Ontario to steel mills in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

As you can see, Canada's membership in the Asia-Pacific community is already a full, diverse, dynamic and growing one. In 1997 we will celebrate that membership and our commitment to maintain and expand it.

Our Year of Asia Pacific will be a wonderful party. But it will be much more than that. Since the formation of APEC in 1989, Canada has dedicated itself to working with our partners for sustained growth and better access to markets.

Fundamental to this goal is the effort to remove trade barriers that hinder economic growth and job creation.

We have made remarkable progress in only a few years. Two years ago in Indonesia, APEC leaders endorsed the principle of free and open trade for the region. We established deadlines for trade and investment liberalization. Last year in Japan each of us agreed to draw up action plans outlining the steps we are taking to achieve that goal.

This year in the Philippines I will review progress with my fellow APEC leaders and discuss further actions we can take to improve access to markets and to support further economic growth.

It is vital that Canada, in our role as APEC chair, maintain the momentum for trade liberalization. We have a strong track record in implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and in the World Trade Organization. The benefits from the removal of trade barriers are obvious in the impressive growth of our exports.

The APEC deadline for achieving trade and investment liberalization is in the next century, but we are not waiting until then. Much of what we want can be achieved today by improving the conditions for doing business in the region.

For example, through closer cooperation APEC members can improve the efficiency of customs operations by introducing full electronic systems. We can make it easier to do business in the region.

Our ideas are not produced in a vacuum. APEC recognizes the role the private sector must play in the creation of economic growth. APEC leaders are beginning a dialogue with the APEC Business Advisory Council. In 1997 Canada will chair the Council, and I am pleased to report that two of Canada's members are from Vancouver: Dorothy Riddle and Terry Hui.

Also in the Philippines, I will address a major APEC international business conference, where Canadian business representatives will meet to discuss opportunities with colleagues from all 18 economies represented in APEC.

Throughout Canada's Year of Asia Pacific, Canada is organizing a series of business forums that will explore commercial opportunities in the region. Many of them will be chaired by Canadian ministers, bringing in their colleagues from throughout the region to foster new cooperation in such areas as energy, transport, environment and small- and medium-sized businesses.

I am extremely pleased with the commitment shown by so many Canadians to enhance our Asia-Pacific partnerships. The success of the Team Canada missions is a good example. Not just during the trade missions -- but in the long-term trade relationships they helped establish.

I have had the opportunity to visit some of the companies, in different parts of Canada, that participated in Team Canada trips. I've been very impressed by what I have seen.

In case after case, the companies are not only filling the orders they signed on the missions; they are now dealing with new orders, from new customers. And not only from the countries we visited together, but from other countries as well.

When I witnessed the signing of those business deals during the Team Canada trips, I knew we had done the right thing. We were making powerful business connections and laying the groundwork for future growth.

So it was a delight for me this summer to see the new orders coming in and the new jobs being created. It is clear that an aggressive Team Canada approach, with the cooperation of federal, provincial and municipal governments and the private sector, has succeeded in producing good jobs with good incomes in the growing economic sectors of today and tomorrow for Canadians.

So I am not going to argue with success. In six weeks time, the premiers and I -- along with business people from across the country -- will leave for a new Team Canada mission to South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines.

The opportunities for Canadians in these markets are first-rate. As you know, Canadian firms are world leaders in goods and services that build economic infrastructure -- in other words, the goods and services that make economies work.

Information technology, transportation, financial services, education and construction are some of the sectors we will be highlighting. We will also be promoting our resource products in forestry, mining, energy and agri-food.

With the first-rate goods and services that Canadian companies have to offer, it is no wonder that I am such an optimist.

As I depart for Manila today, I am excited by the great energy which Canadians have devoted to building partnerships in the Asia Pacific community. In the months to come, in Canada's Year of Asia Pacific and beyond, our government will be doing its best to maintain an atmosphere to help those partnerships can grow.

Canada's Year of Asia Pacific will not be the beginning of our efforts in this region. And it will not be the end. But it will be an important milestone. A recognition of a fundamental fact of Canadian existence. Canada is part of the Asia Pacific community. And we will celebrate that from coast -- to coast -- to coast.