Blogs ~ November 2014

Photo: Peter Snucins, President and CEO of Polycorp Ltd. (centre) is awarded the 2014 Private Business Growth Award by Phil Noble, Executive Partner and CEO, Grant Thornton LLP (right), and Canadian Chamber President and CEO, Perrin Beatty. Toronto, Nov. 19.

Last night, at a gala emceed by Dianne Buckner, host of CBC’s Dragons’ Den, Polycorp Ltd. was awarded the 2014 Private Business Growth Award.

The travel and tourism sector is one of Canada’s largest generators of GDP, contributing close to $80 billion to its economy annually. However, Canada is experiencing a serious competitiveness challenge in this sector. Our tourism competiveness problems are self-made and can be overcome by better strategies and policies, such as increasing Canada’s marketing budget.

Every riding in Canada depends on the strength of our tourism brand: international marketing draws tourists to all corners of the country, and we view Members of Parliament as a critical voice for advocating for marketing strategies that position Canada as a premiere international destination. A country’s ability to market its brand effectively is a powerful tool within the international tourism industry.

Ottawa, November 19 2014 – The travel and tourism sector is one of Canada’s largest generators of GDP, contributing close to $80 billion to its economy annually. However, Canada is experiencing a serious competitiveness challenge in this sector. Our tourism competiveness problems are self-made and can be overcome by better strategies and policies.

Today, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce is calling for increased investments to Canada’s marketing budget.

The Canadian Chamber applauds the announcement by the Canadian and Chinese governments to establish a Canadian renminbi trading hub. This is a win for Canadian business as we estimate the hub could boost Canada’s exports to China by as much as $32 billion over the next decade. Over the next 10 years, the hub could also cut Canadian importers’ costs by as much as $2.75 billion as Chinese companies prefer doing business in renminbi and are willing to offer buyer discounts. Businesses can also save on foreign exchange costs by converting directly from Canadian dollars to renminbi, without the intermediary step of converting into U.S. Dollars.

Hendrik Brakel, Senior Director, Economic, Financial & Tax Policy, speaks to BNN how the Canadian economy can benefit from the renminbi trade hub deal.

Fabien Gélinas, a McGill law professor, arbitrator and former General Counsel of the ICC Court, was elected to succeed Barry Leon of Perley-Robertson LLP, Hill & McDougall as Chair of ICC Canada’s Arbitration Committee. Stephen Drymer, Head of International Arbitration and ADR at Woods LLP, was elected Vice-Chair. Under a new leadership structure approved earlier this year, Drymer will succeed Gélinas in two years.

In China today, Perrin Beatty moderated a panel discussion between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Alibaba CEO, Jack Ma.

Every Canadian has heard of Amazon, but not all have heard of Alibaba. Yet.It’s an amazing story: Alibaba's transactions last year totaled nearly $250 billion, compared with $116 billion for Amazon. Every second, Alibaba handles an average of 500 orders, worth more than $9,000. Amazon’s equivalent transaction value in 2013 would be less than $3,700 per second. There are more than 300 million active users for Alipay; this makes it the third-largest payment system in the world, after Visa and MasterCard.

Photos: From left, Shoei Utsuda, Global Chairman, Mitsui & Co, Inc.; Perrin Beatty; Akio Mimura, Chairman, Japan Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Hon. Greg Rickford, Minister of Natural Resources

Today, in Tokyo, the Japan-Canada Chamber Council hosted its first joint event. The Council is a partnership between the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Japan Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Around 100 participants, including Japanese and Canadian business leaders and government officials from both countries as well as the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta, participated in the initial meeting where the Hon. Greg Rickford, Minister of Natural Resources, was the keynote speaker.