Trade Mission Ends With Meetings/Presentations

Premier Russell MacLellan ended a week-long trade and investment mission to Europe today with meetings and presentations in London before some of the most influential business leaders in the United Kingdom, including senior executives in the offshore oil and gas industry.

This morning and afternoon Premier MacLellan met with the senior executives of Brown & Root Energy Services and Kvaerner Oil & Gas, companies that are playing a major role in the development of Nova Scotia's Sable Offshore Energy Project. The premier used the opportunity to forcefully push for the maximum recruitment and employment of Nova Scotia workers in all aspects of the project.

"Some of the key development and construction planning decisions will be initiated here in the United Kingdom," the premier said. "So I wanted to go right to the top decision-makers to present the case for Nova Scotian workers."

At noon the premier addressed 27 of Britain's top business leaders at a luncheon meeting hosted at the Canadian High Commission by the Canada/UK Chamber of Commerce. The key theme of the premier's remarks was the buoyant state of the Nova Scotia economy and, once again, the strength of the province's work force, stressing its nationally top-ranked levels of education and job commitment.

"The main reason for my visit here is to sell Nova Scotia as a great place to invest, and as a source of top quality products," the premier explained. "And the best way to do that is to underline the fact that we have in our province, Canada's smartest and most dedicated workforce."

Premier MacLellan described his six days of meetings and project signings as an unqualified success.

"The opportunities for Nova Scotian companies in this market are absolutely unlimited, and I've had the opportunity to see first-hand that our entrepreneurs and business people can compete successfully here. Our job as a government is simply to help open the doors, assist our people to identify and seize the opportunities, and then to get out of the way."

The premier returns to Nova Scotia tomorrow.