September 2002 - Nr. 9
Special opportunities await investors in Canada
That is precisely the message that the Ministry of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation is forwarding. On a recent trip to Germany Associate Minister David Turnbull met with members of the business community in southern Germany and continued to point out what federal Minister for Economic Affairs, John Manly, had been pointing out earlier: The Northern Tiger is worth investing in.
Echo
Germanica met with the Minister in his office on Bay Street and discussed
why especially Ontario is a great place to invest in. To our surprise we
found out that he speaks German very well. Perhaps that is the reason why he
is eminently suited to a trade mission in Germany.
Unbeknown to many Ontario is the second most industrious place in the western world. There is only one other place that has as much productivity going on per capita, or actually beats us, and that is London. That is probably why this time around the economic downturn in the US has not affected us quite as badly as it used to. Free trade did its job and then the governments tax cuts followed through. Job creation also contributed.
But what European investors do not always realize and have to be brought to understand is the fact that our workforce is quite superior to that of the US, because our people are to start with better educated. For that reason alone it is smart for a European industry to set up manufacturing here, because it takes a much shorter time to train employees on the job. Also the work moral tends to be a lot higher here than south of the border and all that adds up to a better and more productive and cost-effective investment. Especially the already well-developed sectors of tourism, telecommunications, and information technology are highly competitive.
In the next 10 years Ontario wants to become one of the major locations for biotechnology in North America. Ontario’s unemployment rate is 6.5%. This market can allow 50 % of the annual immigration rate for Canada to come to Ontario, especially if the applicants are well trained. The newer developed immigration initiatives seem to be in support of this strategy.
The initiative of Ontario to invite more German investors was fruitful in Bavaria. The Alfred Steinl Landshuter Tool Manufacturing company-LWB has plans to open a new production plant in Ontario. This will secure the Bavarian company a place from which it can conquer and develop the North American market for its manufacture of metal carriers for the plastics industry. This will address mainly the auto manufacturing market.
Ontario builds 15% of all cars made in North America, explains Minister Turnbull. This gives any company looking to address that market a good advantage, especially since Ontario’s production costs on the whole are much lower than those of our southern counterpart. Another important factor is that red tape to set up shop in Ontario has largely been illuminated and all proceedings are handled quite speedily with minimum delays.
It is interesting to note that the public’s perception here and abroad is not up to snuff on the real facts. Ontario is something to be proud of, and, as a paper in Germany put it, something to emulate!
Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
