I have been saying for several years that New Brunswick needs to build better linkages to India. Two years ago Indian firms started making major investments in North America. I begged on these pages and elsewhere for somebody to sit up and listen.
Alberta listened – they have sent trade delegations and I believe have an office there.
Ontario listened – Toronto took a massive delegation there last year and two large Indian firms set up in that city.
Quebec listened – Charest just went last month to India with a large delegation.
NOTE: They didn’t listen to me – just to the tea leaves.
Now, it seems that Manitoba has listened:
Doer meets India’s economic advisor
Published: Tuesday, February 14, 2006
New Delhi, India—Premier Gary Doer and a delegation of Manitobans met with the prestigious Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India as part of Manitoba’s trade mission to India, Feb. 11 to 17.
I’ll bet you a fiver that our guys (NB) will be the last ones into India for trade & investment. Cripes, CBC’s Jacques Poitras wentthere and essentially did their job for them – and they are still non-commital.
Economic development is like just about everything else in life. If you are quicker, faster – out front of the pack – you can win. If you sit around the dusty, cobwebbed glass tower in Fredericton and wait for the world to come knocking – it never will.
We were out front of the pack regarding the call centre industry in the early 1990s.
We were out front on the IT front with the NB Information Highway initiative in the mid 1990s.
What are we out front on now?
Cutting small business taxes, for sure.
Anyone else? Beuller? Beuller?
That ain’t gonna get it done.