Canada Wants More Trade

Visiting Team Meets With Local Companies

A visiting Canadian trade representative has noted that Saint Lucia stands to benefit immensely if only a more focused business approach is taken by local companies.

Marc Parisien, Senior Trade Commissioner at the High Commission of Canada to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, said that while a significant level of trade exists between Canada and Saint Lucia, there’s always room for improvement, especially in Saint Lucia’s case.

“I think we can have a lot more business or activities going on between Saint Lucia and Canada,” Parisien said. “We do some export in the food industry business as well as in pharmaceutical products. We also import from Saint Lucia but I think these numbers are not very high. I think there is a lot of space to do more activities.”

Parisien is responsible for promoting trade and investment between Canada and 13 islands within the Caribbean, including Saint Lucia. He said that while Saint Lucia is relatively small in size, “there are lots of things that can be done.”

Many nations that have benefitted from international trade in the past 100 years, he said, have been able to do so through change and exchange. He cited the local banana industry as an example, adding that Canada stands ready to assist local initiatives to promote business.

“If you’re in a country that produces bananas and find you’re producing too many, then you produce something else,” Parisien said. “We can certainly exchange. We also have a lot of programmes here that assist Saint Lucian companies to become more competitive and to export.”

He continued: “We want Saint Lucian companies to be stronger so as to export maybe to other countries in the Caribbean as well as the U.S. and Canada. So it’s important to create this relation (and that’s why) we came here. We’ve had a lot of meetings with the Chamber of Commerce and Ministry of External Affairs.”

Parisien said he and his team were expected to meet with a food industry company here last Thursday. While here, the team was also to meet with other companies to determine the possibilities of business opportunities that can be seized upon. Renewable energy stood out as one of those possibilities, he said.

“I’m aware that in Barbados the cost of energy is very high and it’s the same thing here,” Parisien said. “So we have a lot of technology in Canada and even if we’re a big oil producer now, Canada is really looking at moving toward renewable energy, including wind, geothermal and solar. In Canada, we’re also looking toward using more hydropower since we have a lot of water.”

Despite Saint Lucia is a small economy, the island needs to adjust in order to remain competitive. While acknowledging that such adjustments would be expensive, the long-term goal is likely to be rewarding.

“As time goes by, I think it’s really important for Saint Lucia to maybe look at other kinds of resources,” Parisien said. “From what I heard, it costs almost 30% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) just for energy purposes. In Canada, it’s a lot lower. So if it goes from 30% to 10%, it will help your economy very much. Many countries in the Caribbean are struggling because their debt and unemployment levels are high. So the (renewable energy) sector in which we see many possibilities.”

The agricultural and food production sectors were also listed by Parisien among prospects for trade between Canada and Saint Lucia. He said Canada is currently undertaking a project with Saint Lucia that helps the island choose a few crops or products for which the island has a likely comparative advantage. Specializing in certain products could be helpful, he said, given the vast amounts of fertile land available here.

Another area of interest is that of pharmaceuticals. Parisien said many Canadian companies produce pharmaceuticals, including inexpensive generic drugs. Since Saint Lucia purchases much of its pharmaceuticals from Canada, he said, that level of trade remains crucial to both countries. However, he would like to see more opportunities existing in that regard.

Tourism and education complete the areas of interest the Canadians have in Saint Lucia, Parisien said. He said his office welcomes any input from the local Chamber of Commerce on how to improve the business relationship between Saint Lucia and Canada. The Chamber of Commerce, he said, has responded positively.

“They’ve told us that if we have a delegation of people or companies interested in coming, we can let them know. So we’re looking at a number of opportunities and these opportunities can go in both directions,” Parisien said.