N.L. ponders putting office in Boston
Goal to encourage American trade, investment in province
Like Premier Andrew Furey’s friend Alan Doyle sings, “There isn’t that much ocean between Boston and St. John’s.”
So why not set up an office there?
It’s an idea the Newfoundland and Labrador government is analyzing and will make a decision on “very, very shortly,” Furey said.
The province doesn’t have any international trade and investment offices right now, but it is something other provinces have in place in some areas, such as Saskatchewan’s office in Dubai.
PROMOTING NATURAL RESOURCES
Furey mentioned the idea briefly during an Energy Nlhosted conversation with the premier and federal Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-philippe Champagne at the Emera Innovation Exchange Centre on Signal Hill Wednesday morning.
After the event, reporters asked Furey for details.
“It's been abundantly clear that not every investor, or every governor, or every bureaucrat understands that (we have) provincial jurisdiction over our own natural resources.
“So, it became clear that there could be an opportunity to be had with respect to opening an international office for Newfoundland and Labrador,” he said.
“Growing markets, whether that's in our fishing industry, our hydrogen or hydroelectric capacity, (or) mining sector, it is important to have a presence, and we are critically looking at Boston as a potential,” Furey explained.
WHY BOSTON?
Furey first pointed to the history between the province and Boston as the rationale for the location, noting there are already many relationships that exist between the two locations.
Plus, he said, there’s the potential for electricity and hydrogen export.
Furey said the province also picked Boston because of its proximity, and its adjacency to decision-makers in Washington and along the northeastern seaboard.
“Many of the customers, many of the bureaucrats, many of the elected officials, aren’t waking up and saying, ‘OK, today top of mind is how can we work with Newfoundland and Labrador?’ So, having a presence there will facilitate companies, like (those) in the room today, to make sure that there is an awareness of their product in the United States,” Furey said.
“If we don’t have a presence, how are people thinking about us? We have great products, we have great potential, but … we need to make sure people are aware in order to capitalize on it,” he said.
NOT A NEW BUILDING
Champagne said the federal government has co-location agreements with several provinces, as Canada has offices in about 185 cities around the world.
He said it is very efficient and effective for provinces to put officials in those offices.
“There’s a blueprint for success in that,” he said, noting that when there are provinces with offices in a locale, the feds will invite the province along to various engagements.
“It’s ‘Team Canada’ working together, but at the same time you have the uniqueness of what a province can offer to a particular market,” Champagne said.
Furey made it clear the province wouldn’t build a new office, but rather work with that existing team and co-locating. He called it a “good collaborative move.”
“It gets Newfoundland and Labrador’s voice heard in the United States.” N.L. Premier Andrew Furey
“It gets Newfoundland and Labrador’s voice heard in the United States,” he said.
GERMANY NEXT?
During the panel discussion, Champagne said if he were Furey, he would open an office in Germany.
“This corridor of hydrogen between Newfoundland and Labrador and Germany, that is the most promising thing. We need to make sure we think about (a) corridor, like we’ve done in the auto sector between Detroit and Windsor … now we need to think about Newfoundland and Germany.”
Saltwire asked Furey for his thoughts about that.
“We’ll see how the Boston office goes first,” he said, later adding,
“There’s an incredible awareness in Germany of Newfoundland and Labrador. The chancellor was here a few years ago, and so we won’t exclude a potential office in Germany just yet.”