About Us

Mission Statement

The Mission of the Asia Pacific Trade Council is to make recommendations to the Premier on opportunities to leverage the Province’s unique gateway location - its ports and transportation infrastructure, multi-cultural society and natural links with the Asia Pacific - in order to maximize commerce to the benefit of all British Columbians and Canadians.

Background Information

The Asia Pacific Trade Council officially launched on September 22, 2005. The Asia Pacific Council was officially launched on September 22, 2005 to advise the Government on how to increase investment and trade with the Asia Pacific Region. The Asia Pacific Trade Council completed its mandate in June 2007.

Tactics

The Asia Pacific Trade Council will, through commissioning of research and the creation of committees and advisory groups across markets and industry sectors, make recommendations to the Premier in all areas affecting the success of British Columbia’s commerce with the Asia Pacific region.

Approach

Organize by Market Regions

The Asia Pacific Trade Council will organize its investigations of opportunities in the Asia Pacific by region (e.g., China/Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, etc). Priority industry sectors and issues will then be identified for each region. The merits of this approach are:

1. The methodology is consistent with federal government and other public practices (e.g., Canada’s Emerging Market Strategy for China and India).
    
2. The issues affecting key industry sectors vary with regional markets.
    
3. A regional market based approach provides for a more coordinated examination of the interplay of issues in a specific region (e.g., provincial representation in-market).
   
   The Premier has identified the following regional priorities for the Council:
   • China and Hong Kong
   • India
   • Japan
   • South Korea
   • Southeast Asia
   • Taiwan

Focus Evaluations on Key Priority Sectors

Market Advisory Groups appointed by the Council will identify priority industry sectors to focus the evaluation in each regional market. Market Advisory Groups will lead with industry sectors identified as drivers of the British Columbia economy. These include those identified by the Premier’s Competition Council:

• Forestry/Wood Products
• Transportation
• Manufacturing
• Mining
• Bio-technology
• Tourism
• Technology (Information technology and communications)
• Energy
• Film & Media
• Professional, Scientific & Technical Services

Consideration will also be given to sectors of opportunity identified by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada in a series of market reports prepared for the Asia Pacific Trade Council.