‘Window of opportunity’: B.C. premier and jobs minister announce trade mission to India

B.C.'s premier is leaving for India on his first trade mission of the year as his government looks to pivot away from U.S. markets.

Premier David Eby and his economic development minister are heading to India next week on the first trade mission of the year to promote B.C. products and companies.

It’s part of the NDP government’s “Look West” strategy to continue diversifying the province’s economy away from reliance on American markets as the trade war shows little sign of ending.

“There is a window of opportunity for British Columbia, which is the leading province in Canada in terms of trade with India, to deepen our relationship and expand the trade that we already do with a country that is going to be the third-largest economy in the world,” Eby told reporters on Tuesday.

Ravi Kahlon, who made remarks in Punjabi after he and the premier answered reporters’ questions, touted the technology, lumber, and life sciences industries as priorities for their meetings in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Bangalore.

“People want to see the premier, they want to see ministers,” said the jobs and economic development minister. “They want to see companies go there and build a relationship because that is the foundation of what the trade can look like.”

While other premiers and federal ministers have joined with the prime minister in criss-crossing the globe to promote their provinces and talk-up Canadian businesses, the strategy may be more about optics than actually striking new deals.

John Ries, international trade professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, conducted in-depth research on trade missions by former prime minister Jean Chretien and former B.C. premier Christy Clark and found that when compared to provinces and countries that left business development to the private sector, there was little difference.

“I wouldn’t hold my breath that’s going to make any real change and trading opportunities, at least that’s not the evidence that I found in my research,” he told CTV News.

Eby and his ministers have often touted the statistic that B.C. has already found success in diversifying trade away from the U.S., with more than a third of goods and services going to Asia, compared to just 10 per cent for the rest of the country.

“Geography matters,” Ries pointed out, with B.C.’s numerous ports making it easy to transport products across the Pacific.

“That’s part of it, and the products that we produce matter, and Asia is fairly hungry for our resources.”

Eby went on another trade mission to Asia last summer with the agriculture minister and parliamentary secretary for Asia-Pacific trade.