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March 19, 1999
(Industry, Trade and Technology)


The following statement was issued today by Sandra Kelly, Minister of Industry, Trade and Technology. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

The quality and international appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador technology and products was successfully showcased during our province's most recent trade mission to Latin America.

Last week it was an honour to lead a team of Newfoundland and Labrador entrepreneurs and educators on a trade mission to Chile and Argentina. Over the course of five days, 40 official meetings took place between mission participants and Latin American companies. This followed weeks of advance preparation to match the services of mission participants with Chilean and Argentinean business opportunities.

A consultant, Rodrigo Delgado, was commissioned under the Canada/Newfoundland Comprehensive Economic Development Agreement (CEDA) to match Newfoundland and Labrador companies with compatible businesses in Latin America.

Using the advance consultation process proved very successful and was a major reason why the companies found the meetings so beneficial.

During this mission, it was apparent that the products and services of Innova Multimedia, Superior Waterproof Coatings, Biomedical Implant Technologies and Memorial University held great potential for the economies of these two Latin American countries.

Memorial University's 30-year track record in telemedicine and distance education attracted great interest in academic and business circles in the two countries, while the products of Superior Waterproof Coatings generated significant interest from potential wholesale and retail distributors.

In Chile, Innova Multimedia Ltd. signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Universidad de Santo Tomas that will result in Santo Tomas using Innova Multimedia's educational software throughout its system of 32 schools and colleges. The programs will be translated into Spanish to be in use for the next school year in 2000.

Biomedical Implant Technologies had such successful contacts that they are planning their own return trip to Latin America for follow-up meetings, particularly with the aim of partnering with Latin American universities to develop a curriculum for dental implants.

Meetings were held with representatives of the mining and gas sectors, including SIPETROL, the international branch of the State-owned petroleum company in Chile, which has requested further follow-up with the Newfoundland and Labrador delegation at the Offshore Technology Conference being held in Houston this May.

Besides the direct initiatives undertaken by actual participants on the mission, the meetings also served as an excellent venue in which to promote the potential of many aspects of Memorial University and the College of the North Atlantic.

Both Innova Multimedia and Biomedical Implant Technologies are participants in Memorial University's Genesis Centre, an incubator mall for high-tech Newfoundland and Labrador initiatives that helps establish international contacts for their products and services.

There was considerable interest in the Genesis Centre and technology transfer projects from the ministry of small and medium sized enterprises in Argentina.

It should be noted that these Newfoundland and Labrador companies assume their own expenses for travel and accommodation on these trade missions, and they maximize every business contact for the immediate and future potential that each encounter represents.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the participants who were on this successful trade mission to Latin America, two of whom are in the gallery today, Peggy Miller with INNOVA Multimedia and Fred Dixon with Superior Waterproof Coatings.

I would also like to acknowledge the assistance of my departmental staff and Canadian Embassy officials in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Santiago, Chile for the conscientious approach they applied to every business contact on this mission.

It has been in our national media that Newfoundland and Labrador led all of Canada in Gross Domestic Product Growth in 1998, and is poised to duplicate that achievement in 1999.

I can assure this Honourable House that our potential and the calibre of our provincial expertise extends well beyond our nation to an eager and accessible international business community.

Thank you.

1999 03 19 10:45 a.m.


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