Speaking Points
The Honourable Christian Paradis, PC, MP
Minister of Industry
Hong Kong, China
April 15, 2013
Check Against Delivery
Thank you for inviting me to join you this afternoon. My thanks also to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council for organizing this event.
It is events like these that reinforce the already strong ties between Canada and Hong Kong. There are approximately half a million people of Hong Kong descent—either immigrants or children of immigrants—living in Canada. And Hong Kong is home to one of the largest Canadian expat communities, with nearly 300,000 Canadians living here.
Of course, the closeness between our two nations carries over into the world of business as well. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong is Canada's largest Chamber overseas, with about 1,200 members.
To ensure that trade and investment between our two nations continue to grow, our government has worked hard to ensure Canada is a great place to do business. We have created a sound economic framework, paid down debt, harmonized regulations and reduced red tape. And our overall tax rate on new business investment is substantially lower than that in all other G7 countries—especially the U.S.
These efforts are bearing fruit. Canada's net debt-to-GDP ratio remains by far the lowest in the G7. Our top credit rating has been reaffirmed by all of the major rating agencies. Our banks remain the soundest in the world. And we've maintained a triple-A credit rating.
But as a trading nation, we need equally strong and dedicated partners to grow and prosper. One in five Canadian jobs is linked to exports, and one in ten is linked to foreign investment.
That is why our government has embarked on the most ambitious trade strategy in our history. In the last six years, we've signed free trade agreements with nine countries, representing over 100 million potential customers. And we've concluded or implemented foreign investment promotion and protection agreements with 11 others.
Domestically, we are ensuring that Canada remains open and attractive to investors. It is with that goal in mind that we improved the process for evaluating foreign direct investment. We are ensuring that we focus on the most significant transactions and have announced an increase in the review threshold to $1 billion in enterprise value over four years for private investors. And we are providing clarity on how Canada assesses investments by state-owned enterprises.
In short, we are a trading nation. And we are open for business.
When it comes to information and communications technologies (ICT), Canada is a global leader. Canada has world-leading strengths in wireless telecommunications equipment, mobile and gaming software development, and business analytics. We are at the forefront of innovation and are a leading source for world-class ICT products.
We're home to BlackBerry, which brought the world the revolutionary BlackBerry 10 mobile platform. And OpenText, which booked more than a billion dollars in revenue last year with its information management software for large corporations.
Canada has a quarter of North America's fastest growing wireless companies. And we have a first-class ICT infrastructure and six ICT regional clusters with easy access to the U.S. and global markets.
These clusters are supported by strong business incubators and accelerators that are spinning out start-ups and small firms. These, in turn, are producing leading-edge technology and driving our digital economy.
Canada's ICT sector is creating the future every day with new ways to work smarter, more productively and more competitively. And that is the true strength of our economy—of our country really—the people.
I think we can all agree that in tomorrow's economy what will really matter is grey matter. It will be the ideas, innovation and ingenuity that create new technologies, new products and new ways of doing things. And Canada is well positioned with a highly educated workforce and the highest percentage of individuals with college or university education in the OECD.
We are committed to building on the strong ties between Canada and Hong Kong. And we look forward to partnering with you to build prosperity for our two nations.
Thank you.
