Speech by Andrew Saxton, Canadian Member of Parliament - North Vancouver, at "Friends of Canada Luncheon," Singapore
Remarks by Mr. Andrew Saxton
Parliamentary Secretary
to the President of the Treasury Board
and for Western Economic Diversification
delivered at
The Friends of Canada Networking Luncheon
on the occasion of the State visit to Singapore of His Excellency
The Right Honourable David Johnston
Governor General of Canada
Fairmont Hotel, Singapore
November 20th, 2011
Speech as delivered:
Thank you for that kind introduction. It`s great to be back in Singapore. It is especially great to be here with His Excellency the Governor General and distinguished members of our Canadian delegation and to bring greetings on behalf of the Government of Canada.
Singapore is such a dynamic and resilient country.
As some of you may know, I lived in Asia for eight years, five of those years, from 1997 to 2002, were here in Singapore when I worked for HSBC. Those were some challenging times.
I will never forget that when I arrived here in August 1997, the country was covered in what was euphemistically called the `haze`, which was really thick, black smoke from fires burning in Sumatra.
It was so thick you had to have your headlights on in the middle of the day. It lasted for three months.
Then the Asian crisis hit three weeks later. I spent my first year here calling loans. Those were difficult times.
But the haze lifted, the sun came out and the economy rebounded and it`s great to see Singapore growing and prospering today.
Everyone in this room is somehow connected to Canada. Either you are Canadian or you are a friend of Canada. So naturally, you will have an interest in our government`s plans in Southeast Asia.
One of the purposes of our visit is to share our government`s plans to expand our relationship with Singapore, and to outline our keen interest in increasing trade and investment with Southeast Asian countries.
During our government`s first five years in office, we have made more than 30 ministerial level visits to the Pacific Rim.
In addition to our many diplomatic missions, we have also opened six new trade offices in East Asia,
clear evidence of our commitment to increasing trade with Asian nations and to securing Canada’s 21st century economic success.
We recognize that Canada has very strong existing ties with Singapore and with Southeast Asia.
A fundamental reason for this is the large number of those originally from this region, who now call Canada home.
It is these simple connections that have helped to establish new business opportunities, and
permanent links between Canada and many Southeast Asian states.
We have all witnessed the incredible growth of the Asian economies over the past two decades. I also experienced this remarkable growth first hand during the eight years that I lived and worked in Asia.
In the past few years, our government has been aggressively expanding commercial relations with the Asia-Pacific. Our efforts are yielding results.
We are maximizing opportunities for our entrepreneurs through innovative trade, investment, open skies and science and technology agreements. We are also attracting regional investment to Canada by ensuring a speedier and seemless transport of goods through a much strengthened Asia-Pacific Gateway.
While much focus tends to be on the super powers of the region, China and India in particular, we cannot ignore that the by-products of this growth
have influenced and stimulated economic growth through many of our ASEAN partners as well.
Through our government`s Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, we are committed to bolstering bilateral and regional commercial engagement.
This joint declaration is our first trade and investment framework with ASEAN and is another example of our government’s goal of creating a pro-trade plan.
Under the Harper government`s Global Commerce Strategy, Southeast Asia is a region of significant and growing importance to Canada.
In 2010, annual Canada-ASEAN two-way merchandise trade reached $13.8 billion. That’s an increase of over 26% since 2005.
With Singapore, Canadian merchandise exports totalled $834 million in 2010; Canadian imports from Singapore totalled over $1.1 billion. That`s a combined trade of almost $2 billion.
We have witnessed similar growth in many other countries in the region as well.
Because of our government`s strategic investments and partnerships in the Asia Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative, there now exists a world class transportation network that provides an efficient,
reliable and cost effective connection between Asian and North American markets.
In one year alone, from 2009 to 2010, using the Asia-Pacific Gateway infrastructure, Canadian
exports to China increased by almost 19 percent, reaching $13.2 billion.
Our government is continually working to ensure that Canada remains a good place to invest and to do business.
We have taken many steps to ensure that our economy will continue to remain strong.
Our $62 billion Economic Action Plan has achieved its objectives. It has helped stimulate job creation
while also strengthening our trading capacity.
Canada suffered along with the rest of the world during the recent global economic recession. However, as a result of years of surplus budgets,
paying down debt and decisive action on behalf of our government to shore up the economy and create jobs with targeted and temporary fiscal stimulus measures, Canada has emerged in a relatively strong position.
More jobs have been created in Canada since the recession than were lost.
Our banks survived relatively unscathed. The World Economic Forum has declared Canada`s banks the soundest in the world for the past three consecutive years.
Our banks and other financial institutions are well capitalized, and were less highly leveraged than their international peers heading into the financial crisis. None of Canada`s banks required bailouts. None of Canada`s banks required bailouts.
The IMF predicts that Canada will lead the G7 in economic growth over the next two years.
In order to achieve this remarkable recovery, we had to run deficits.
We recognize that it is paramount that we now strive to reduce those deficits and get back to balanced budgets as soon as possible.
We have all witnessed the sovereign debt crisis that has hit some European Union countries. We must act now to prevent a similar scenario from happening elsewhere.
By remaining fiscally prudent and committed to reducing deficits we will achieve certain advantages.
The basis for this strength is the result of a strong sound regulatory regime, strict capital reserves, combined with a more conservative risk appetite among financial institutions.
Canada’s debt to GDP ratio is the lowest of all G8 countries and will continue to be so over the medium term.
Thanks to responsible management of the public purse, Canada is seen as a safe, responsible country to invest. In fact, Forbes recently ranked Canada as the best country to invest in.
Without doubt, one of our most important moves – and certainly one of Canada’s greatest competitive advantages – is the Asia Pacific Gateway and trade corridor. This innovative transportation network brings together all of the key transportation, labour, and logistics providers across our supply chains to facilitate pan-Pacific trade.
Canada has some strategic advantages. Our west coast ports are up to two days closer to Asia than Los Angeles.
It’s important to also recognize that the trade corridor is not solely about importing goods. It’s also about helping Canadians access the Asia- Pacific markets as well.
By way of strengthening the transportation, labour, and logistical providers, we are drastically improving how we are able to move freight from
North America westward across the Pacific to Asian nations. This allows all of Canada’s traditional wealth of natural resources as well as next generation manufactured goods, to make their way quickly and efficiently to those markets.
Since forming government five years ago, we have signed nine free trade agreements and have many more in the pipeline.
During a time when some countries have moved to implement protectionist measures, Canada has done the opposite and moved to reduce tariffs.
In fact, we have eliminated tariffs on manufacturing inputs. Canada is the first tariff-free zone for manufacturers.
We have also recently announced our intention to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an organization that Singapore was a founding member of.
We recognize the vital role that Asia-Pacific countries are playing in bringing about a global recovery that is both strong and sustainable.
Canada is committed to working in productive partnership with its ASEAN partners. It is through friendships formed and business partnerships fostered through gatherings like this, we are working to help expand bilateral trade in order to promote mutual prosperity.
Thank you.
