$45M global trade hub ‘positive for province’
300 Asian businesses to be based out of six-building Regina complex
Enthusiasm was in the air Thursday in a field west of Regina, during the official groundbreaking of the Global Trade Exhibition Centre at the Global Transportation Hub.
Area businesspeople attended the kickoff of Brightenview Development International’s six-building, $45-million “GTEC” complex, envisioned as a hub for Asian import and Saskatchewan export.
“This platform is an importing/ exporting two-way street. That’s trade. One way is not trade,” said Brightenview CEO Joe Zhou, adding he wants to send the global market a message that “we’re open for business.”
If all goes as planned, the first two buildings should be completed by February.
This is not the first piece of land in Saskatchewan that Brightenview has intended to develop. In 2012, Brightenview announced a planned international megamall at Dundurn, 40 kilometres south of Saskatoon.
“We are continuing working on it with the RM and the communities,” Zhou said. “We’ll work on our course and that it’s the right fit to develop.”
Rural Municipality of Dundurn Reeve Trevor Reid said nothing has been done to begin developing the land, as far as the RM is concerned. Brightenview has yet to subdivide its 132-acre parcel of land, nor apply for appropriate permits to begin development.
Reid said he last spoke to Zhou a few months ago to discuss traffic.
In spring 2013, the company said the megamall would open within two years. In summer 2014, it targeted 2015 as a construction start date.
“I’ve always said we’ll support it once they go,” Reid said. “If they’re going to do something, they’ll do it when they’re ready.”
In Regina on Thursday, two John Deere machines were on the GTEC site to begin digging. Three PCL employees in hard hats and safety vests waited for the ceremony to clear out to begin working in the field.
John Hopkins, CEO of the Regina Chamber of Commerce, expressed optimism, adding direct trade is a “unique” concept for Canada.
Brightenview plans to attract about 300 Asian businesses to be based at the site, to import and distribute consumer electronics and home building materials and export Saskatchewan food products. Zhou said there has been “phenomenal” support from foreign businesses that are interested in opening at the GTEC.
He praised the GTH for its mature distribution network, with access to rail routes and roadways. The GTH is a foreign trade zone, which comes with exemptions for sales tax and duties. When GTEC is up and running, the company says it will create more than 200 employment opportunities.
In the meantime, construction would create an estimated 100 temporary jobs.
Jeremy Harrison, provincial minister responsible for the GTH and minister responsible for trade, said Brightenview has already shown “significant” investment in the project. The reported cost of the land was $7.6 million.
“I think that everything is looking very positive,” Harrison said. “We’re really optimistic. I think this is going to be a very positive project for the city of Regina, for the entire province.”