UK Minister of State for Trade and Investment Ian Livingston and French ambassador to Canada Philippe Zeller were in Vancouver for last week's Globe trade conference. Business in Vancouver sat down with them for separate interviews to speak about business between B.C. and their respective countries, as well as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), a proposed free trade pact between Canada and the European Union.
A: Livingston: HSBC has its [Canadian] headquarters here. B.C. and the U.K. share a strong view regarding the environment. I was delighted to sign today [March 26] in Victoria … an agreement for closer U.K.-B.C. co-operation. So it's important the province of British Columbia and the U.K. as a whole work together, for instance, encouraging greater trade, investment, joint ventures and partnerships.
A: Zeller: There's no huge business relationship between British Columbia and France till now. One of the very recent examples we could give is the decision of Dalkia, belonging to the Veolia [Environment] group (NYE:VE). [Dalkia] decided to build a plant for treating biomass in British Columbia that will be an investment of more than $300 million, and that's typically an example of new French investment.
A: Livingston: One of the biggest will be LNG [liquefied natural gas]. I think also environmental things, innovation, the film industry as well.
A: Zeller: Energy, in the sense of seeing what will be the developments of British Columbia as a place not only for producing but also for exporting energy. In that sense, the liquefied [natural] gas facilities are something some of the major French industries, like GDF Suez (Nasdaq:GDFZY) for instance, is considering.
A: Livingston: I think the U.K. prides itself on its role of being one of the most open countries to investment and to trade, so I think there should be very little that's holding [B.C.-U.K. trade] back. And I think also that B.C. sees itself as one of the more open Canadian provinces.
A: Zeller: That's a question of [France learning] what British Columbia is about, what are the capacities of the planning, of the development, of the growth of British Columbia.
A: Livingston: I think financial services will benefit the most from that. I think Vancouver will be a more attractive place to look for British banks. … HSBC is headquartered here. That's a good example and I think we'll see more of that.
A: Zeller: The CETA is not only a question of liberalizing trade between EU and Canada, which is obviously the main thing, the main target, the main purpose of the compact itself, but also it should trigger opportunities for exchanging skilled people.
