N.S. Premier Houston heads to Switzerland to meet private investment partners

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston speaks with reporters in Halifax. (Callum Smith/CTV News Atlantic)

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston is getting more stamps on his passport as he heads to Switzerland this month with the president of the Halifax Port Authority to meet with private investment partners.

Houston, who returned from the Offshore Technology Conference in Texas less than two weeks ago, arrived in Geneva on Monday and will be there until Wednesday. Fulvio Fracassi, CEO of the Halifax Port Authority, has joined him on the trip.

“Canada needs to diversify trade routes and increase supply chain resilience, and Nova Scotia is ready to take the lead to protect our economic sovereignty,” said Houston in a news release. “Nova Scotia’s Port of Halifax is already a critical international gateway and can help advance Canada’s trade diversification objectives.”

The province says the trip to Switzerland supports the port authority’s application under the $5-billion Canada Trade Diversification Corridors Fund, which aims to build and improve trade infrastructure.

“The Halifax Port Authority has been invited to apply for the federal funding to advance the Atlantic Hub container terminal expansion project, which will increase terminal capacity and leverage the port’s existing connections to more than 150 countries,” the release reads.

Last year, Houston spent more than $60,000 on out-of-Canada travel expenses, focusing on increasing the province’s exports and finding new trading partners.

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