Minister's Asia Tour 2007

Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon will lead a transportation mission to China, Korea, and Japan from May 18-26. The Minister will be promoting Canada’s Pacific Gateway as the best supply chain to major North American markets and attracting investment to British Columbia’s port and roadway expansion, projects.

Check this page regularly for written updates and photos from Minister Falcon during the trip. Click on thumbnails to see larger photo.

Pacific Gateway Mission to Asia Pacific
Friday, May 25
Tokyo, Japan

Japan is our second largest trading partner, after the United States. New opportunities are emerging in Japan and in the Asia Pacific. Through our strategic location, British Columbia is in a position to benefit from these opportunities.

This morning, we split our delegation between shipping meetings and a tour of the Tokyo Narita Airport Air Cargo facilities. British Columbia faces an entirely different set of issues to meet our airport expansion goals. We are strong proponents of open skies agreements that allow airports to attract international airline service at will. The federal government negotiates these agreements on Canada’s behalf and we included federal representatives in our delegation.

British Columbia is a small open trading economy that relies on trade. The Province continues to lead the way in the Asia-Pacific because we know that is where our future lies. At the conclusion of this mission, it is clear our efforts are getting noticed and appreciated.

Pacific Gateway Mission to Asia Pacific
Wednesday, May 23
Seoul, Korea

Business relationships are important in Asia and we are spending a great deal of time meeting with executives at airlines, shipping companies and port authorities. We are extremely committed to the Pacific Gateway. Where there are challenges, we look for solutions.

We also speak about the infrastructure expansions we are each working on. The province is able to build on the relationships our ports and airports have with their client shipping lines and airlines. The lasting impression is one of commitment and coordination; and because of that we have been very well received.

Pacific Gateway Mission to Asia Pacific
Tuesday, May 22
Busan, Korea

One of the real advantages of this Pacific Gateway delegation is its depth. We are travelling with representatives of our ports, airports, railways, and the federal and provincial governments. Our delegation has numbered as high as 23 people and each delegation member lends expertise to our meetings. Our mission also provides us the opportunity to visit British Columbia investments and see first hand the progress being made.

For instance, I lead part of our delegation to Changwon City near the southern coast of Korea this morning to visit Rotem, the company manufacturing the trains for the Canada Line. The Rotem plant is extremely impressive. It is clean, and very modern.

InTransitBC, the company that is building, partially financing and will operate the Canada Line, is very pleased with the progress Rotem is making. The trains will be substantially bigger than the existing SkyTrain cars, with more space for passengers, bikes, wheelchairs, and racks for luggage, as many YVR passengers are expected to start or finish their journeys on the Canada Line. The Rotem-built trains, like the overall project, are on time and on budget. The trains begin arriving in December.

While I visited Rotem, other members of the delegation visited Samsung Heavy Industries’ Koje shipyard. Seaspan International, well known for its tugs in many British Columbia harbours, is building a fleet of container ships at Koje. These new generation container ships are leading edge. They will soon take their place calling on ports worldwide and no doubt within the Pacific Gateway.

Kevin Falcon
Minister of Transportation

Pacific Gateway Mission to Asia Pacific
Sunday, May 20
Shanghai, China

Today was a day of firsts. Our delegation's first day started when I had breakfast with John McDonald, British Columbia's new Trade and Investment Representative in Shanghai. It is John's first day on the job. In the afternoon, we inspected Prince Rupert's first three gantry cranes.

Gantry cranes are a critical link in the supply chain. The giant cranes load and unload container ships, transferring goods between land and sea.  The majority of gantry cranes in use worldwide are manufactured here by Zhenhua Port Machinery Co., Ltd.

ZPMC is a fixture in the Pacific Gateway. Vancouver purchased ZPMC's first export gantry crane 10 years ago.  Vancouver marks a significant milestone in June when ZPMC's 1000th export crane is delivered to Deltaport.

Prince Rupert's cranes will be delivered later this summer to Maher Terminals Inc, operator of the new Fairview Terminal in Prince Rupert. For residents of Prince Rupert, the 25 story tall cranes will be the tallest structures in town. They are also the signature link a global supply chain connecting manufacturers in Asia and major markets in North America and that is our vision for the Pacific Gateway.

Tomorrow, we visit the massive Yangshan Deepwater Port, the second largest port in the world.

Kevin Falcon,
Minister of Transportation.