Premier Hosts Boston Summit

Premier Russell MacLellan and 30 Nova Scotian chief executive officers will be in Boston tomorrow (Friday, June 25) to meet with Massachusetts Governor Paul Cellucci and 30 Boston-area CEOs for the inaugural Boston Business Summit.

Faculty members of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard will act as facilitators for the one-day summit being hosted by Premier MacLellan.

The summit will explore ways of increasing trade and investment opportunities and extending educational links between the two regions.

"My main objective is to assist Nova Scotian companies in developing partnerships and alliances that will increase trade between the two regions," said Premier MacLellan. "The Boston Business Summit also gives us an excellent opportunity to promote Nova Scotia as an investment location to corporate decision-makers and venture capitalists," he added.

Nova Scotia and New England have always enjoyed a strong cultural and trading relationship. With the removal of tariffs under the North American Free Trade Agreement last January, more and more business trade is moving north-south.

The low unemployment rate in Massachusetts is leading American companies to look for strategic alliances and partnerships. That's where Nova Scotia's skilled and well-educated workforce gives the province an extra advantage over other areas.

"As the largest single-source of information technology (IT) graduates in Canada, Information Technology Institute (ITI) is a significant contributor to the skill base in Nova Scotia," said Dan Potter, CEO, ITI. "The skilled IT professionals we produce are attractive to American employers, and may aid in luring high-tech companies to Nova Scotia. We look forward to forming partnerships with education, business and government representatives in New England."

Seventy per cent of Nova Scotia's exports go to the United States, and half of those exports go directly to New England. Fish and fish products are the single largest commodity, but signs that Nova Scotia's exports are diversifying are plentiful.

"Our Economic Development and Tourism department has proof that the Boston marketplace offers tremendous opportunities for a variety of Nova Scotian exports," said the premier.

The results of four recent trade missions led by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism exceeded expectations. Contract sales and forecasts resulting from the four missions are estimated at $20 million for 30 Nova Scotia companies, most of them first-time exporters.

"The success of these missions is so encouraging that we're now planning monthly trade missions into the New England marketplace," said Francis MacKenzie, executive director of the department's Investment and Trade group.

A follow-up session to the Boston Business Summit will be held in Nova Scotia this fall.