Eby to visit Japan, South Korea and Malaysia on trade trip to reduce U.S. reliance
B.C. Premier David Eby says a trade mission to Asia next month will help the province become the 'engine of a new Canada,' but one economist says B.C. also needs to become more competitive at home.
Eby will be visiting Japan, South Korea and Malaysia between June 1 and June 10 as part of a business delegation also including B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham and Paul Choi, parliamentary secretary for Asia-Pacific trade.
Eby says the trip is aimed at deepening ties with existing customers buying goods from British Columbia and finding new ones for natural resources in demand around the world.
He says the trip is part of a joint plan with the federal government to make Canada more independent and less reliant on the United States.
Jairo Yunis, director of policy with the Business Council of British Columbia, says it's important to diversify trade, but this agenda will only pay off if B.C. speeds up permitting for natural resources and becomes a more attractive place for foreign investors.
Japan and South Korea rank third and fourth among B.C.'s trading partners, well behind mainland China and the United States, which absorbs about 55 per cent of provincial exports.
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