On May 22, 12 diplomats from five Southeast Asian countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) made a
visit to Richmond. It was hosted by Tourism Richmond with the assistance of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce.
This was a very important visit and the delegation included the most senior representatives from these countries in Vancouver, who are all part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes 10 nations comprising one of the world's most populous and rapidly growing regions.
The objective was to help the representatives from these countries get to know our city better and develop closer ties between Richmond and their countries, with the hope it will bring new opportunities for trade and business development.
With our advantages in geographic location, infrastructure, and human resources, Richmond has all the elements to develop into an international trade hub. Known as Canada's gateway to the Pacific, in 2013 as many as 18 million travellers went through our international airport
(YVR), which is rated the best in North America and eighth in the world. Richmond is also the largest vehicle importer in Western Canada with 187,000 vehicles imported in 2012. In the recently adopted Richmond Resilient Economy Strategy, it is estimated the transportation of people and goods directly or indirectly accounts for almost 70 per cent of the city's economic base employment.
With China poised to pass the U.S. as the world's largest economy, and India becoming the third-largest economy, we should prepare ourselves to play a more important role in Canada-Asia trade and create more employment opportunities for our residents. The ASEAN countries, with a combined population of 600 million people, are a big market for Canadian goods. They also have a high demand for investment, technology, talent, and services to support their rapid economic growth, and Richmond could benefit by providing a link between Canada and the ASEAN countries.
In fact, the interest of ASEAN countries in Richmond has been increasing in the past two years. Last October, a high level business delegation, led by the Deputy Minister for International Trade of the Vietnamese government, visited Richmond and had a productive meeting with the Richmond Chamber of Commerce.
This past May, the Indonesian Consulate General and Philippine Consulate General participated in the Asian Heritage Month celebration hosted by the Richmond Chinese Community Association at Lansdowne Centre mall.
However, the recent visit represented a collective interest of the ASEAN countries in Richmond. During their visit, they had the opportunity to explore and be impressed by the high-tech industry, agricultural, tourism, sports, and community facilities available in our city. The feedback has been extremely positive. When Mohd Haniff Abd Rahman, Consul General of Malaysia in Vancouver, spoke on behalf of visitors at the end of the trip, he said Richmond would be high on the priority list of their countries for future business development and cooperation.
For our part, the city's new economic strategy is focusing on this area by continuing to build on Richmond's status as a major gateway for goods movement in and out of Canada.
We will continue to collaborate with partners such as YVR and Port Metro Vancouver to pursue transportation and other infrastructure improvements that support increased trade, while also protecting community livability. We're also working closely with Tourism Richmond and other community partners to build tourism as the Asia Pacific market is emerging as a leading prospect for new tourism to Canada.
The door to the ASEAN market is now open and I am sure there are many more opportunities ahead.
