Transatlantic connections

Within weeks of the UK election, Canadian cabinet ministers were in London to forge connections with the new Liberal-Conservative government. The topic Industry minister Tony Clement and then-Transport minister John Baird wanted to discuss with their UK equivalents – trade.

That may not be the direct reason why 25 British companies are here in Halifax this week, looking for partnerships with Canadian companies at the DEFSEC 2010 defence show, but the high-level commitment can’t hurt. After all, to many Canadians’ surprise, the United Kingdom is our second largest trading partner, after the United States.

The UK Trade Officer in Canada, Bernadette Terry, says she is constantly looking for potential partnerships between Canadian and UK companies, and recent years have seen some successes, particularly in sales to the Middle East
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“We’re very closely aligned, the UK and Canada,” Terry said. “Canada is a wonderful place to do business.”

Unlike the United States, she said, “We haven’t got billions to throw at a problem.” Intending no disrespect to the United States, she said she believes there are better defence industry synergies between Canada and the United Kingdom.

The Clegg-Cameron political coalition appears to be bringing an economic revolution in the UK, and foreign trade is a key concentration. As Ashley Prime, UK’s deputy consul-general said, selling UK products is absolutely crucial. “Getting more and more British companies overseas is top priority.

There is a wider context, he continued. “Canada and the European Union are halfway through trade talks.” The goal is to knock down the remaining barriers to trade between Canada and the EU. “We’re hoping for 100 percent tariff reductions,” Prime said.

The main British areas of interest at DEFSEC, Terry said, are: soldier systems; unmanned and autonomous vehicles; command and control; interoperability for ISR; and, reflecting the DEFSEC theme this year, space systems.

Terry said the DEFSEC connection has been developing for several years through talks with show organizer Colin Stephenson and came together this year. Every second year, there is a collision with the giant DSEI defence event in London – many UK companies, especially smaller ones, simply cannot manage both venues.