Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy was released by the Government of Canada on November 27^th and it has been defined under five core objectives which will impact the life of Canadians, from peace, security, climate change and human rights, to trade, investment, supply chain resilience and partnerships.  

Home of 40 diverse economies with over four billion people, including three of the largest economies in the world (China, Japan and India), the Indo-Pacific strategy will play a pivotal role in defining Canada’s future.

So, it is worthwhile to reflect about how this strategy should be implemented effectively from a business perspective and how to increase its chances to succeed under the challenging economic, social and geopolitical scenarios that both Canada and Indo-Pacific countries face.

Without a doubt, there are several tools that will be useful to consider during the implementation stage of this strategy, but taking advantage of digital trade is an essential one for business success due to its scope and cross-cutting nature.

Digital trade, which refers to commerce enabled by electronic means, has grown rapidly during the present century. It has become critical over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic by providing solutions to effectively support companies across industries, and by keeping products and services within reach of consumers.

Nonetheless, international organizations such as the World Economic Forum notes that, despite the growing value of the digital economy, digital protectionism is on the rise, and that cybercrime will grow faster and account for half the value of the digital economy by 2025.

This brings up three important questions:

1. How can Canada contribute to governing and harnessing the full potential in digital data without compromising the security of people?
2. What can Canada’s government do so that digital trade is utilized as a tool of inclusion?
3. How can Canadian entrepreneurs leverage digital trade to succeed within the Indo-Pacific strategy?

There are 4 key reasons digital trade is a perfect fit to support Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy

1. Promote and action Canada’s values

Adding digital trade as an important tool to implement the strategy can apply Canada’s values to promote open societies and free and sustainable trade.

A recent report issued by the Digital Policy Alert Organization highlights that over the past three years governments have gone into regulatory overdrive in digital sectors. In areas such as data governance, online content moderation, taxation and competition law enforcement this has created digital fragmentation due to the inconsistency of rules.

Regulatory heterogeneity is growing, and this is a threat for businesses because this discourages participation in global markets and imposes barriers that affect both entrepreneurs and consumers.

Regulation in digital trade is imperative.  However, it needs to be coherent and consistent with principles that guarantee non-discrimination, transparency and fairness, but also offer predictability.

With no multilateral agreement in place to regulate activities in the digital world, Canada’s Government has the opportunity through the Indo-Pacific strategy to step in, propose rules to address concerns on digital issues and guarantee a level playing field.

This is a chance to create consensus around the principles that will govern digital sectors in the region and, at the same time, confirm its commitment for high-standard, rule-based digital trade that works for all.

2. Increase trade liberalization

The digital economy is associated with greater levels of trade liberalization, which improves trade activities between countries.

An OECD study points out that a 10% increase in digital connectivity between two countries, which allows their companies to deliver their products and services beyond borders by improving regulations and infrastructure, might expand their trade in goods by around 2% and over 3% trade in services.

The OECD report adds that when digital policies are implemented alongside regional trade agreements, the growth in good exports could duplicate the impact. Based on this evidence, Canada is in a great position to link digitalization with trade activities thanks to its extensive network sustained in 15 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in force with 51 different nations.

To be noted, Canada is part of two of the most advanced free trade agreements that include stand-alone chapters on digital trade issues, namely the CPTPP and the USMCA. This valuable expertise must be leveraged to expand partnerships and strength ties in the Indo-Pacific.

As part of the strategy, Canada has committed to join the Digital Economic Partnership Agreement (DEPA) with Singapore, New Zealand and Chile, which is excellent news for Canadian businesses. DEPA has emerged as an innovative solution to address critical issues that the digital economy confronts and has encouraged cross-border collaboration on topics such as digital inclusion, artificial intelligence and digital identities.

Canada has the opportunity through the Indo-Pacific strategy to encourage a holistic, balanced and effective policy-setting across the region via digital and trade agreements that address key issues.

These issues include data flows and governing data, which increase business activities and supply chains resilience, and guarantee a more equitable distribution of the gains of digital technologies while addressing risks.

3. Help Canadian companies diversify their markets

Promoting the adoption of digital technologies supports Canadian companies in diversifying their markets.

Recognizing the country’s high export concentration, the Indo-Pacific strategy aims to promote a more sustainable economic growth and to reduce Canada’s vulnerability to adverse external shocks including geopolitics. In this line, a key piece of the Indo-Pacific strategy is the approach that Canada will take moving forward to engage with two of the world’s largest economies, namely China and India.

On the one hand, Canada’s government recognizes within the strategy that its relationship with China will be aligned with those of its closest allies and will be displayed on different levels, both challenging and collaborating with China depending on the circumstances. Canada’s government knows that geopolitics currently plays an important role and that this is a latent risk for its businesses running operations in China; so the strategy aims to support Canadian companies to build business opportunities in other Indo-Pacific markets.

On the other hand, Canada’s goal with India is to expand the bilateral relationship through a broad range of cooperative projects.

The level of Canada’s engagement with China and India have been set in opposite directions in the strategy.

Supporting Canadian entrepreneurs to improve their processes, distribution, marketing and commercialization methods via digitalization can help to succeed in its position with these two countries by opening new markets beyond China and creating more robust commercial ties with India.

4. Make trade more accessible to SMEs

The digital economy can help to increase the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and in this manner, contribute to alleviating one of the most pressing challenges in the Indo-Pacific, which is to create a more inclusive and equitable business environment.

SMEs, including under-represented groups, youth, women entrepreneurs and indigenous groups, need to have access to digital technologies in order to be able to participate, compete and reap the benefits of international trade and encompassing supply chains. Digitalization can offer SMEs access to affordable, more advanced technologies, which can help to reduce costs and increase competitiveness.

Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy will be considered a compelling and viable approach if it provides solutions to the most critical issues faced by SMEs, which includes digital exclusion and lack of digital infrastructure.

The digital exclusion in some Indo-Pacific economies is an important issue to address in order to fully integrate their people into the digital economy. For instance, the internet penetration rate in Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh and India are 18, 31 and 47 percent of their total population, respectively.

Canada should promote digital capacity-building across the region through the strategy and walk the talk by collaborating and supporting connectivity initiatives in the Indo-Pacific, revising regulatory frameworks affecting SMEs’ adoption of digital technologies and investing in the improvement of digital infrastructure. The strategy has to reflect Canada’s commitment with inclusive and sustainable digital development.

Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy offers a comprehensive and well-articulated policy that sets an important roadmap to Canada’s present and future, aiming to become a trusted and influential partner in the region.

To succeed in the implementation of this strategy, it should incorporate digital trade as a strategic tool for inclusion due to the portion that this represents in the global economy. Canada’s priority must be to avoid falling behind in the development of digital technologies and to assume a leadership position in the discussion of the agenda.

Canada’s Indo Pacific strategy has put the country in a better position for the future, so implementing this strategy using digital trade could represent a cornerstone upon which all the trade initiatives are supported, contributing significantly to reaching its goals.

The digital trade approach could also contribute to the ultimate goal shared by most of Indo-Pacific countries of building greater levels of economic integration that translate into sustainable jobs and prosperity for all.

Global value chains have a critical role in the world economy and in our daily lives, representing more than two-thirds of global trade, providing essential products and services, and supporting jobs across a diversity of economic sectors ranging from agricultural and natural resources to traditional and high-tech manufacturing and a vast and diverse list of services.

While the ongoing discussions on GVCs have produced worthwhile conversations by creating more awareness and a better understanding of their relevance, we cannot deny that these discussions are not enough to remedy future disruptions that might happen as a consequence of new contingencies. Nor can they support efforts to build more resilient value chains after COVID-19.

The ongoing discussions that have occurred over the last two years are promising, but tangible actions are missing. So, what can we do to guarantee the proper functioning of global value chains and to build the desired resilience? What should we do to avoid the shortage of essential products and services for the benefit of all? What has to be done to pave the way for SME success in GVCs? How can we make GVCs more inclusive to underrepresented groups such as businesses led by women, youth, and indigenous people? How do we support the shift that GVCs are experiencing from operating under traditional business models to innovative and digital ones? Even though there are no simple answers to these complex questions, there are a few actions that can bring us closer to the goal of achieving resilient and sustainable supply chains.

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Below are three proposals that could push us from fruitful discussions on supply chains toward meaningful actions:

1) Private and public sectors should work together 

To minimize or avoid future disruptions, input and coordinated efforts from all the participants and stakeholders of GVCs are imperative. Two key players in this process are the members from private and public sectors who have been very active in GVC discussions since the pandemic arose. Both have shown a strong commitment and determination to support effective and efficient vaccine production and distribution worldwide and have guaranteed access to essentials for all—which are a precondition for inclusive and strong global supply chains.

The actions that could be implemented as a result of the synergies built between private and public sectors are certainly diverse, but one that could be particularly useful is working together to predict future shocks and prepare for them.

International organizations, such as the OECD, have suggested that governments and companies should apply stress tests at the GVC level for ensuring that essentials can be supplied when disruptive events happen.

Both companies and governments may be interested in these findings via the implementation of these stress tests, as they would highlight the blockages, gaps, and fragile links in the GVCs when facing crisis scenarios. Testing the systems would allow greater visibility of any concerns across the entire supply chain. 

In addition, trade experts, policymakers, scholars, business people, and leaders from private and public sectors need to work collectively to design formal mechanisms for sharing information among them. This will create and produce available dedicated platforms where participants and stakeholders can find relevant GVC data to revise statistics and define new metrics that respond better to GVC dynamics and the decision-making process.

Private and public sector members must move quickly and take the issues of GVCs seriously. They need to learn what has worked well and what can be improved while working collaboratively to avoid repeating the same mistakes. Research from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) found that disruptions are occurring more frequently than we think and that these have a costly price for companies. The MGI study also points out that manufacturing companies can expect to see their production disrupted for two weeks every two years on average and that, over the course of a decade, these companies can expect to lose nearly forty percent of their earnings in one year due to these interruptions.

The call for action for private and public sector members to collaborate is real and necessary. It will put all their expertise and knowledge on the ground, starting with the implementation of stress tests, followed by the use of the results to define risk management strategies and provide financial and technical assistance for GVCs participants. GVCs may continue being powerful engines for growth and development, but they require coordination and collective actions between the private and public sectors.

2) Promote free and open markets for GVC resilience

It was reasonable that national governments closed their borders during the first stage of the Covid-19 pandemic to protect their people. We were facing a health emergency that we did not know how to address and contain, and so, a logical solution was to restrict the movement of people and goods across borders. However, the closure of borders alongside government measures taken to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic have seriously affected GVC operations. Unsurprisingly, they’ve had an overall negative impact on trade and investments worldwide, with The Global Trade Alert Report finding that, from the policy interventions made, 170 countries experienced their merchandise exports facing their worst market-access scenario abroad in 2020, whereas only 26 economies actually saw improved market access. The same report added that policy measures implemented around the globe represented 17,252 negative spillover effects.

It must be highlighted that global trade was not the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the interconnected commercial networks among nations meant that policy responses of one government had mostly adverse effects on their trading partners. Every nation has the right to design its own trade policy according to its own economic reality, but closing borders and isolation are not the solutions.

Public policies that aim to unwind trade integration and re-shore production are harmful strategies that will have a negative impact on domestic companies. They increase fragility to local disruptions with no option to implement diversification strategies through international markets.

GVC resilience should not be seen as simply a domestic matter, but as regional and international matters that need to be addressed in collaboration with like-minded countries.

Thus, it is indispensable to promote free, open, and inclusive markets as a basic element to create resilience and sustainability in supply chains. Lowering and eliminating barriers to trade can help companies diversify markets by maximizing sourcing opportunities, easing access to new markets, and reducing risk exposure. Likewise, revising rules on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) should be considered as a fundamental element for strengthening GVC performance.

A particular consideration that governments must assess is the strategic role that multinational enterprises (MNEs) play in global supply chains. MNEs are key drivers in GVCs, investing in trading inputs and outputs, investing in productive assets wherever needed, and integrating and working with SMEs across supply chains. The actions to open markets are diverse, from standardizing and digitizing customs processes, reducing the cost of cross-border trade, and working on the permanent removal of import tariffs and export restrictions on essential products and services to the establishment of predictable rules on investments and the elimination of barriers to the movement of businesspeople and essential workers.

3) Boost cooperation at the regional and multilateral level

As countries continue to navigate paths towards recovering from the effects of the global pandemic, it must be recognized that cooperation among governments and companies is instrumental in improving resilience to shocks in supply chains for three main reasons:

First, it can support diversification efforts by articulating regulations across different nations that mean access to new markets, which, otherwise, local companies would not have access to.

Second, collaboration among nations can help in anticipating and managing risks in a better way by sharing business intelligence data, research, and analyses on potential shocks of critical inputs and other elements that could disrupt supply chains—namely weather, transportation, logistics, ports, airports, telecommunications, labour market changes, and industry trends.

Third, cooperation can help share real-time data in global supply chains so governments and companies can react and make adjustments if needed, identifying bottlenecks, gaps, and potential threats and opportunities further down GVCs.

Resilience building will give better results if actions are implemented and harmonized across countries. Governments need to utilize collective forums to turn ideas into concrete policies, rules, and/or programs. They also need to take advantage of their participation and memberships in regional and multilateral organizations and in trade agreements. Cooperation must be promoted on an ongoing basis under fundamental principles such as prosperity for all, non-discrimination, inclusiveness, transparency, equity, predictability, and sustainability.

A particular action that nations may want to consider is reviewing and updating the provisions of their trade agreements, ensuring these are not running behind business challenges and can respond to the new realities that GVCs face. They must also be tailored to confront crises. To carry out this process, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which has brought together eleven Asia-Pacific economies, could be used as a benchmark.

Moreover, an important action that should be prioritized at the multilateral level is concluding at least one of the ongoing SME, e-commerce, services, investment, or agriculture negotiations that are currently happening in the WTO. Reaching an agreement in any of these negotiations will contribute to GVC resilience.

For all the above reasons, the invitation to translate fruitful discussions into tangible actions at the local, regional and multilateral levels will guarantee that key products and services can move freely around the world. It will also ensure that global value chains operate resiliently during periods of crisis and will continue to positively drive the global economy for the benefit of all.

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A challenging hill to climb

The global pandemic has modified our planning and tested our resilience, determination and commitment to not only free and open trade but inclusive and collaborative solutions. For the global and Canadian economies, analytical results for 2020, as expected, weren’t stellar: The International Monetary Fund (IMF), for instance, estimated that the global GDP would drop by 3.5%; the World Trade Organization (WTO) calculated that the volume of world merchandise trade would contract by 9.2%; and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) projected that global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows would dramatically decrease by up to 40% in 2020.

Likewise, Canadian estimates for last year were not encouraging either, with a GDP estimated to drop by 7.1%, goods exports falling by 12.3%, and services exports declining by 18%. Amid exceptional uncertainty, the world and Canadian economies are projected to grow 5.5% and 3.6% in 2021, respectively.

Two reasons why the Indo-Pacific approach needs to be considered

It must be highlighted that the estimated economic growth in the global and Canadian economies, this year, follows an unprecedented economic collapse that has had severe adverse effects on business activity.

Considering the uncertainty and challenges in both the Canadian and global economies, a recovery strategy that prioritizes Canada’s commerce and investments around the world could promote much-needed sustainable growth and resilience for the country.

Keeping this in mind, there are two main reasons why Canada should seriously consider drafting and implementing an Indo-Pacific approach as a strategic trade policy to support economic recovery:

1. It would bring trade diversity and import-export opportunities to Canadian businesses

First, Canada needs to diversify its trade. Official reports point out that Canada’s exports are the fourth most concentrated by destination out of 113 economies [1]; this is true due to a large share of exports going to the US market. In this regard,

formal engagement with the Indo-Pacific region could represent new alternatives for businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises, to export their products and services and engage in regional supply chains.

To be successful, the key step in this diversification imperative would be for Canada to take a more proactive role in trade agreements where it is already a member—namely the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). It should also consider doing the same for agreements that are in the negotiation stage. For instance, Canada currently has talks in different stages with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), India, Mercosur, and the Pacific Alliance.

2. It would streamline relations to focus on beneficial trade agreements, such as the CPTPP and the CUSMA

Second, Canada needs to consolidate trade relations with its current trading partners. It must promote and ensure that its businesspeople are reaching their full potential in trade and investment opportunities.

To reach this full potential, Canadians must take better advantage of the 14 Free Trade Agreements in force, giving their business access to 1.5 billion consumers across 51 countries.

In the Indo-Pacific, particularly, Canada currently has access, via trade pacts, to thirteen dynamic economies that could complement its economy perfectly. In order to consolidate these ties, Canada needs to tap the benefits of its membership in trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

Two challenges to the Indo-Pacific approach

There are a few challenges that Canada could face in the process of the construction of this Indo-Pacific approach:

1. Contending with differing views on multilateralism

One, it would have to clearly define an approach that represents Canada’s values and legitimate interests and offer a compelling value proposition for the Indo-Pacific region. Canada has characterized its commitment to multilateralism by championing an international order based on recognized standards and rules, such as those established by the United Nations, the WTO and the World Health Organization (WHO), among others.

In this regard, Canada must keep itself away from Indo-Pacific visions that have a goal of the containment of China’s rise and influence in the region.

2. Logistics: The Indo-Pacific region is vast and would require a prioritization of markets

Another challenge that Canada might face with an Indo-Pacific approach is logistical: The region is so diverse and large in geography and includes many countries across the Indian and Pacific oceans. For this reason, Canada’s approach must prioritize markets that can leverage economic recovery in a post-COVID stage and increase the trade and investment presence of Canadian businesses in regional and global supply chains. In this respect, Canada could operate selectively in the Indo-Pacific rather than adopting a region-wide approach. It could, carefully, define its priority markets, initiatives and engagements to support and participate in.

To overcome the challenge of the large capacity of the Indo-Pacific region, Canada could also join efforts and work together with like-minded and APEC economies to find solutions together for common trade and investment issues that require attention in the face of protectionism and unilateral measures.

Without a doubt, Canada’s Indo-Pacific approach could support economic recovery, but it will need to commit itself to a mid-term and long-term action plan that creates and strengthen relations with the Indo-Pacific countries—all supported by a strategic vision. This is an important decision for Canada’s future and it demands a collective effort from both the private and public sectors. The Indo-Pacific approach, if implemented effectively, might represent a milestone for Canada in the post-COVID era and beyond—one that’s based on equitable, diverse and inclusive trade.

[1] 20th annual edition of the State of Trade Report for 2019, Global Affairs Canada

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In its report card, The Council of Councils, a global initiative to connect leading foreign policy institutes, has identified ten global challenges that every nation should consider in order to build a better world. These challenges range from mitigating climate change and combating transnational terrorism, to promoting global health and expanding global trade.

Although each of these ten challenges deserves special attention, expanding global trade is particularly important because it represents a unique opportunity to contribute to local wellbeing and economic development.

To date, there are 277 regional trade agreements (RTAs) registered with the World Trade Organization (WTO) which might seem like enough. However, there is still room for greater socioeconomic improvement by promoting and implementing more RTAs and other initiatives to facilitate and expand trade among nations.

Rohinton P. Medhora, President of the Center for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Canada, said that “Global trade is sputtering, but has not degenerated into damaging protectionism.”

Likewise, Jaime Zabludovsky, President of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations, pointed out that expanding and liberalizing global trade are key elements “to provide better access to globally significant markets, diversify the investment relationships between states, and promote the growth of regional supply chains.”

Everyone can participate and benefit from global trade

Despite the benefits of international trade, there are misconceptions that promoting global commerce is against the principles of sovereignty, or that it is an activity accessible only to countries at an advanced stage of economic development.

However, international trade is an inclusive activity that allows any nation or business potentiates to expand its growth, regardless of economic size, and link its domestic economy to global opportunities. Promoting the effective use of global trade should be a priority, not only for governments or economic development agencies, but also for educational institutions and business associations.

We need to create more awareness about international trade in society as an essential component to achieving economic development and welfare locally. Countries resistant to promoting global trade are losing opportunities to boost their economies and businesses.

Thus, the challenge of expanding global trade should be embraced by everybody, keeping in mind that this is an activity that demands having a global vision, a lot of planning and strategic execution.

One of the most important recent RTAs is undoubtedly the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), signed on February 4, 2016, by 12 Pacific Rim countries after seven years of negotiations.

According to the World Bank, the TPP is a mega-regional trade agreement (MRTA) with the potential to have such a significant impact on global trade that it will change the path that international trade has been following. In its final text, the TPP has upgraded and integrated issues and opportunities that had never been discussed before. The cutting-edge approach of the TPP addresses topics such as intellectual property, the environment, transparency and anti-corruption, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), government procurement, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), cooperation and capacity building, and e-commerce, among others.

To understand the relevance of having these themes integrated within the TPP, consider the data provided by the World Economic Forum (WEF) stating that “bringing the internet to the four billion people not currently online would add $6.7 trillion to the global economy and lift 500 million people out of poverty.” Thus, integrating rules for e-commerce within TPP nations has been a very important step of this new agreement.

As for traditional themes, the TPP has eliminated close to 18,000 tariffs on goods, ranging from agricultural to manufactured products. This will benefit both producers who might export their products to new markets, and consumers who will have access to a broader range of products.

The TPP brings new opportunities to bolster collaborative relationships

Some people believe that the TPP is just another RTA, or that it won´t add any value because several of those countries already had an existing trade relationship. However, even the closest trading partners in the TPP will benefit from expanded economic benefits, thanks to the depth of the agreement in different areas.

Particular attention has been given to the participation of NAFTA partners in the TPP: Canada, Mexico and United States. These three nations will not only be preserving their common interests through their participation in this new trade pact, but also increasing their trade relationship.

The TPP will allow them to strengthen their integration and collaboration to the benefit of several industries that share capacities such as aerospace, automotive, mining, agriculture, advanced technologies, financial services and more. The agreement will allow NAFTA partners to expand their markets and work together throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

According to the report “The Road to a Reinvigorated North American Partnership,” these three countries have the opportunity to increase their productivity. This productivity has been estimated to represent as much as $7.3 trillion USD to North America’s region.

To achieve this, they should solve common issues enabling them to compete together in international trade. These issues include harmonized cross-border standards for trucking, harmonizing regulations in a tripartite manner, improving rail, road, port and airport infrastructure, and solving migration issues.

Trade deals can help business, but you must make your own destiny

It’s important to underline that the TPP, or any current or future RTA, will not create these benefits by themselves. Every single nation and company needs to plan, research and “plant the seeds to harvest their crops.” The mistake that some have made in the past has been believing that RTAs will ensure success and that they just have to wait to reap the benefits.

RTAs set frameworks, rules and parameters, but it’s the responsibility of governments, businesses and stakeholders to prepare to compete in these new conditions. Sometimes people blame free trade agreements for their losses, but they don´t realize that the cause of their losses was their lack of planning and execution.

A key factor to succeed in international trade is building partnerships, in combination with finding new clients or purchasers. Partnerships are long term relationships where you and your partner can support each other in an infinite number of ways. The governments of Mexico, Canada and the United States have the opportunity to strengthen their partnership and growth capacities together within the TPP; I would suggest companies do the same for this new trade pact.

Finding partners abroad helps businesses overcome the main challenges that companies face in global trade such as product quality, customs, delivery, logistics, risk management, costs, foreign exchange fluctuations, and social, cultural and political issues. International trade practitioners must adapt their global thinking in terms of local actions. As an entrepreneur running my own international trade company and promoting partnerships, I can testify that free trade agreements offer tremendous advantages to compete and obtain positive results even if you are a small or medium enterprise.

Arriba Mexico Food Company and CMX Partnerships work hard every day to build bridges between Canadians and Mexicans in business making use of NAFTA and other initiatives.

Working with these companies, I have seen the power of bilateral collaboration when you build alliances with institutions from private and/or public sectors. These types of collaborations, often made possible by RTA’s, produce joint initiatives and can ultimately benefit society. International trade, supported with global partnerships, offer endless opportunities to promote economic growth.

The Council of Councils is positive about the global progress that international trade can achieve worldwide in 2016.They have ranked this challenge second in terms of opportunities for breakthrough because “the momentum of the TPP may propel progress for other regional and interregional trade.”

There are currently discussions happening about new agreements such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and hundreds of other bilateral agreements between trade blocs and nations. These agreements can offer a promising future and the opportunity to create economic prosperity in regions and communities around the globe.

Promoting international trade as a tool to create wellbeing in society is the responsibility of all of us. Nations, provinces and companies should create their own strategies to participate and succeed in global markets. Finding your own niche and the right partnerships are fundamental in your strategies to participate in international trade. Finally, I recommend you consider the savvy words of Steve Jobs: “Think Big, Start Small and Move Fast.”