New England is more than a potential trading partner for Atlantic Canada — the region is home to family, friends, and neighbours, Nova Scotia Premier Russell MacLellan said during a lunch meeting of the Team Atlantic trade mission.
"This is more than about trade," Premier MacLellan told the crowd. "This is about friendship and gaining a mutual connection that will serve our children and their children for years to come."
The premier said there has always been a "tremendous affinity" between the two regions, who have always had a great deal in common. Both areas have traditionally depended on natural resource-based industries, but are diversifying into new industries while still maintaining the commitment to the old.
"This is an exciting time to be in business. This is an exciting time to develop new relationships."
Team Atlantic is a four-day trade delegation representing the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. The purpose of the trade mission is to establish new business partnerships, increase trade and investment, and build strategic alliances between businesses in Atlantic Canada and companies located in the New England region.
Team Atlantic is an initiative of the Conference of Atlantic Premiers and is being funded by the Canada/Atlantic Provinces COOPERATION Agreement on International Business Development, a pan-Atlantic trade agreement between the federal government -- represented by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and Industry Canada -- and the four provincial governments.
Representatives of 40 Atlantic Canadian companies met with a total of 80 Vermont companies today to try to generate business opportunities in this region. A number of companies from across Atlantic Canada have already made sales and made important business contacts.
Delegates for the mission arrived in Boston Sunday night, and will travel to Manchester, New Hampshire tomorrow and Portland, Maine, on Thursday.