Moe hopes trade mission to Asia boosts province’s ag, energy sales
SASKATOON As trade disputes with China, India and Italy have dampened demand for Saskatchewan’s agricultural exports, Japan and South Korea may offer new markets for the province’s agriculture and energy products.
Premier Scott Moe will lead an 11-day trade mission starting on Oct. 7, joined by representatives of member companies of the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership (STEP), representatives from Canpotex, Cameco and Mosaic and representatives of post-secondary institutions. It will include a stop in Hong Kong to meet with investors.
The premier won’t be joined by any other members of his cabinet, but will be accompanied by MLA Everett Hindley, who is the legislative secretary for trade and export development.
The mission comes at a time when agricultural trade with two of the largest markets in the world — India and China, each with populations over one billion — has been stymied by trade disputes. India slapped restrictions on pulse imports, and canola exports to China, which surpassed the U.S. as the province’s biggest trade market in 2018, have virtually ground to a halt.
According to the province, exports to South Korea are valued at $118 million, representing a 38-per-cent increase over the last four years. Exports to Japan topped $1 billion dollars last year, the premier said.
Moe described Japan and South Korea as access points to other countries in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“The approach that we are taking and the Team Saskatchewan approach that we are taking over the course of the next number of months and years and ultimately indefinitely is for us to engage with all of our markets of opportunity,” he said.
Moe said his presence on the trade mission won’t be affected by the possibility of a general strike across seven Crown corporations.
“There has been a lot of work that’s been put into this particular mission and we will be leaving on Monday for the mission,” he said.
Opposition NDP Leader Ryan Meili noted the importance of working to find new markets for Saskatchewan producers, especially given what’s happening with India and China. But he said the timing of the mission matters and questioned the effectiveness of past trips, where he said the premier didn’t have high-level meetings. He also pointed to concerns about past choices relating to the airline class government officials flew and their accommodations.
With a federal election just over two weeks away, he questioned what the premier would be able to commit to, noting the uncertainty about the future direction of international relations.