A Cnd $200,000 report, commissioned by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, makes a case that Canada’s Atlantic region should be further developed as an entry point into North American markets for goods and services from global markets, in particular, China, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
“The business case report makes it very clear that if Canada is to capture increased trade opportunities, we need to position ourselves to capitalize on the projected increased traffic between Asia and North America, especially container activity,” ACOA minister Peter MacKay said according to a report in the Chronicle Herald.
The report targets container sea cargo as the first priority, saying that in the short term, “opportunity exists for the Atlantic gateway to position itself and capitalize on the expected significant growth of new Suez container services between Asia and North America.” The report also spells out growth opportunities for non-container marine traffic, air passenger growth, air cargo and the cruise ship industry.
The country’s federal government has budgeted $2.1 billion over the next seven years for its national gateways and corridors strategy including about $1 billion allocated for the West Coast to develop infrastructure for the Asia Pacific trade.