News Releases
Government Home Search Sitemap Contact Us  


April 12, 1999
(Executive Council)


Premier addresses trade delegation in Boston

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Brian Tobin was guest speaker at a business lunch held in Boston today for the delegates of Team Atlantic. Premier Tobin spoke about Newfoundland and Labrador's past, which saw its economy largely dependent on the fishery.

"Every coastal destination existed for one reason and one reason only - fish," Premier Tobin said. He added that the province's trade ties to New England began with the fishery. Newfoundland and Labrador would ship cod to New England, where the fish would be processed into value-added food products, then sold back to the province at a profit.

"We figured it out. And we're building a new economy," the premier said. "We are diversifying." That new economy is one based on industries like Information Technology, Biotechnology, manufacturing, tourism, and oil and gas. All of these emerging industries mean that Newfoundland and Labrador has a great deal to offer any potential trade partners.

Tobin said that Newfoundland and Labrador has always had a strong relationship with New England, and initiatives like the Team Atlantic trade mission will allow that relationship to evolve and grow.

"The relationship is changing by virtue of the fact that our business is changing," the premier noted.

Team Atlantic is a four-day trade delegation representing the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island. The purpose of the trade mission is to establish new business partnerships, increase trade and investment, and build strategic alliances between businesses in Atlantic Canada and companies located in the New England region.

Delegates arrived in Boston last night, and will travel to Burlington, Vermont; Manchester, New Hampshire; and Portland, Maine in the coming days.

Team Atlantic is an initiative of the Conference of Atlantic Premiers and is being funded by the Canada/Atlantic Provinces COOPERATION Agreement on International Business Development, a pan-Atlantic trade agreement between the federal government represented by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and Industry Canada and the four provincial governments.

The Newfoundland and Labrador recently celebrated its 50th anniversary as part of Canada, and that celebration comes at a particularly proud time in the province's history, Tobin said. Three years ago, Newfoundland and Labrador had the worst economic performance of any other Canadian province. Last year, it led the nation in economic growth.

"And in 1999, economic forecasters are predicting that Newfoundland and Labrador will lead the country again," he stated.

Premier Tobin was the first Atlantic premier to address the Team Atlantic trade mission. Tonight the delegates will attend a dinner with keynote speaker noted international business leader Sir Graham Day. Tomorrow Nova Scotia Premier Russell MacLellan will speak at a lunch meeting in Vermont, and on Wednesday the delegation will hear from Prince Edward Island Premier Patrick Binns in New Hampshire. New Brunswick Premier Camille Theriault will speak in Maine when the mission wraps up on Thursday.

For more information, contact:

Ann Stanley                 Doug Burgess
Team Atlantic              Industry, Trade and Technology
PEI                             Newfoundland and Labrador
(902) 626-7048         (709) 729-6573
abstanley@gov.pe.ca

                    Marc-Alain Mallet     Margaret Murphy
                    New Brunswick         Nova Scotia
                    (506) 453-7927         (902) 499-8569

1999 04 12                             6:10 p.m.


SearchHomeBack to GovernmentContact Us


All material copyright the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. No unauthorized copying or redeployment permitted. The Government assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of any material deployed on an unauthorized server.
Disclaimer/Copyright/Privacy Statement