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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012
to Asia to sustain our reputation as a
reliable supplier of goods and services,
and a destination of choice for inves-
tors and visitors. We will also bring
more potential investors here, so they
can see our advantages first-hand.”
Winter says that part of the in-
crease in international investment will
be a result of BC businesses “spending
a lot of time getting our products to
those new international markets.”
“
BC is still least dependent on the US
for exports, less so than Alberta or On-
tario. So we’ve been working on these
relationships overseas for some time,
for instance with Japan, China and
India.”
While Winter says that overall,
Canada is falling behind in terms of
productivity, the chamber is very fo-
cused on improving BC productivity
levels in business. “If we had a goal
for our entrepreneurial sector, or small
business sector, it would be finding
ways to focus them on being more
productive. Most of the innovation we
will see in BC will be a result of the
knowledge-based sector: that’s where
innovation will be real. However, im-
proving productivity is easy to say, but
hard to do.” The BC chamber plans to
work on programs that will focus on
the owner-operators of small business-
es.
Winter explains that BC govern-
ment will also have to do a better job
at addressing the skill shortage issue.
One of the sore points for BC is the
Aboriginal employment situation. “It’s
real—the problems with Aboriginal
employment: we need to expose Ab-
original opportunities in BC,” he says.
“
We’re looking for a breakthrough of
some sort on this front, but it doesn’t
seem to be happening.”
As BC industry continues to
move forward, the chamber will con-
tinue to tackle this, and other issues.
One of the most important aspects of
the BC Chamber is that it is “one or-
ganization that is so broad-based that
it can be effective across industries,”
Winter says.
Members of the BC Chamber can
be assured they are in good hands,
Winter comments. “If you’re a busi-
ness and wanted to join a business
organization, then the chamber is a
pretty good place to be. Governments
are interested in what we have to say.”
BC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
