British Columbia Sea Urchin

Who are those spiny passengers travelling to Narita Airport with Premier Christy Clark as she begins her trade mission to Japan, Korea and the Philippines? It looks like fresh British Columbia sea urchins have booked one-way tickets from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to the Japanese seafood market, with help from the Richmond branch of global logistics company Nissin Transport and Japan Airlines.

Sea urchin, caught by divers off the Haida Gwaii archipelago, arrive in Tokyo within two to three days of harvest, enabling Japanese diners to enjoy a very fresh British Columbia delicacy. Our efficient and cost-effective transportation infrastructure allows live red sea urchin to be transported daily by truck from point of harvest to Vancouver  processing plants via Prince Rupert.

After packaging, the spherical seafood and its roe (‘uni’ in Japanese) travel to Japan from YVR, a growing freight distribution hub. Ninety-nine per cent of British Columbia sea urchin roe exports go to Japan, with the remainder to mainland China and Hong Kong. What is your favourite uni dish?

Spot prawn, another British Columbia seafood specialty, are also onboard the Premier’s flight to Japan. These sweet crustaceans won’t be getting off the plane this time, though – they’re on the menu!

British Columbia’s export-savvy seafood suppliers and wholesalers have the know-how and experience to quickly deliver top-quality aquatic products to the world. Learn more and connect to our seafood companies here.

Hear from Japanese architect Kimo Ito why British Columbia has been good for his business

Asian Heritage Month, celebrated every May, is an opportunity to recognize the remarkable diversity of British Columbia’s workforce, which creates opportunities to do business across cultures. Twenty-seven per cent of British Columbians immigrated here, attracted by our quality of life, vibrant culture and expanding economy.  Our cultural and social ties with Asia Pacific are a particularly strong building block for growth.

More than 183,000 British Columbians speak a Chinese dialect as their mother tongue, helping to foster trade and investment relationships. China is now British Columbia’s second largest trading partner, with bilateral trade totalling $12.8 billion in 2010.

Japan, with the third largest economy in the world, is an important investor in British Columbia, with key partnerships in life sciences, digital media, and clean technology.

Korea, our fourth largest trading partner, is a major investor in British Columbia’s mining and oil and gas sectors. Our top quality educational institutions attracted over 17,000 Korean students in the 2009-2010 school year.

Asian-Canadians have a long history of contributing to British Columbia – socially, politically, economically and culturally. With our strategic location on the west coast of Canada, our economic ties with Asia Pacific continue to strengthen.

Hear from Japanese architect Kimi Ito why British Columbia has been good for his business and let us know your story.

Watch this video to learn more about British Columbia’s advantages for the advanced manufacturing sector.

What do the Chunnel, the space station and positron emission tomography (PET) scans have in common? Answer: Two advanced manufacturing companies located in Richmond, British Columbia.  Ebco and its sister company Advanced Cyclotron Systems Inc. (ACSI) specialize in tackling huge manufacturing challenges that require precision, ingenuity and innovation.

Ebco serves British Columbia’s thriving mining, oil and gas, power generation, forestry and life sciences sectors and provides machining and manufacturing services to some of the world’s top companies. The company’s high-profile products include the tunnel-boring machines that built the Chunnel and the platform that supported the space shuttle’s mechanical arm. British Columbia’s strategic location and integrated transportation systems enable the company to easily and cost-effectively ship their raw materials and sophisticated machinery, helping to  establish Ebco as one of the largest fabricating and machining facilities in North America.

For its part, ACSI has secured nearly half of the global market for cyclotrons, which are massive devices that accelerate subatomic particles and produce the radioactive isotopes used in nanotechnology, battery research and in PET scans to detect cancer and heart disease. A major factor in the company’s success is its partnership with TRIUMF, the world-leading research laboratory for subatomic physics located on the campus of the University of British Columbia. ACSI commercializes TRIUMF technology, developing high performing cyclotrons for the medical community.

The partnership between TRIUMF and ACSI is just one example of the innovation flowing into industry from British Columbia’s more than 50 research centres. These centres, which are on the cutting edge of software engineering, micro-electronics, manufacturing systems, e-learning, biotechnology, environmental and alternative energy systems and more, have helped to launch more than 225 spin-off companies.

Both Ebco and ACSI were founded by a visionary tool-and-die maker who came to British Columbia from Europe in 1956 with a passion for innovation. Are you looking to build a world-leading business? British Columbia offers the building blocks for success, including a unique location at the cross-roads of North America and Asia Pacific and a focus on innovation. Contact one of our trade and investment representatives today to learn more.

Already established your advanced manufacturing company in British Columbia? Share your experiences with us!

Learn how to import fresh seafood from British Columbia, Canada

As the European Seafood Exposition (ESE), the world’s largest international seafood trade event, gets underway in Brussels, Belgium from April 24-26, 2012, international buyers are looking to British Columbia for top-quality fresh and frozen aquatic products. For first-hand tips and news direct from Brussels, follow @SalmonBC (BC Salmon Marketing Council) and @BCSeafood (the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture) on Twitter.

British Columbia’s long history of reliability, sustainable fishing practices, high standards for food safety and cost-effective transportation infrastructure places our fish and seafood at the top of the list for buyers from Europe, the United States and Asia. Many of our finest seafood companies, including the following suppliers, are travelling to ESE as part of British Columbia’s delegation:

• Greater Vancouver’s Aqualine Seafoods Ltd, a leading wholesale supplier of wild sustainable fish products, has built a vast network of fisheries and processing facilities over 40 years in business. Contact Aqualine at booth 9-4169 for hake, salmon and sablefish certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.
• The Canadian Fishing Company (Canfisco, booth 9-4089), with an excellent reputation built over 106 years, operates the largest fleet of fishing vessels in British Columbia and processing facilities in Prince Rupert and Vancouver. Customers worldwide rely on Canfisco for premium, sustainable seafood, including wild salmon, herring, black cod, hake, halibut, Pacific white fish and sardines.
• For a year-round supply of hake and groundfish, get in touch with Victoria, B.C.’s Fisher Bay Seafood Ltd at booth 9-4089. The second-generation seafood company has direct access to 12 million pounds of product.
• Gold River Seafoods Ltd.’s international reach includes extend to their processing facilities in Oregon and Northern California, processing partners in the Philippines and China and shipping and logistics points in South Korea. Visit their booth 11-2747 at ESE for top quality products, featuring Dungeness crab, tuna and prawns.
• A supplier of sea urchin roe to the Japanese market since 1989, Grand Hale Marine Products also supplies salmon, spot prawns and more to the United States, Europe and Southeast Asia. Meet them in person at booth 9-4089 in Brussels.
• Visit Vancouver Island’s Ucluelet Harbour Seafoods Ltd. at booth 9-4169. The company specializes in supplying Pacific whiting, arrowtooth, flounder and sardines to Eastern Europe, Russia and the Ukraine.

British Columbia’s catch of the day is featured on menus all over the world. Let us know where you’ve had a great meal made with seafood from our pristine waters!

Learn more about British Columbia’s seafood industry

A fleet of British Columbia’s largest seafood companies is meeting with international buyers and showcasing our sustainable products at the European Seafood Exposition (ESE) in Brussels, Belgium from April 24-26, 2012. The ESE is the world’s largest seafood trade event and attracts more than 25,000 of the industry’s top purchasers and producers.

With British Columbia’s prime fishing grounds, reputation for food safety, and solid eco-credentials, our seafood products are always in high demand. The wholesale value of our seafood exports is estimated at $1 billion annually.

With the 2011certification of British Columbia’s pink salmon and North Pacific spiny dogfish by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), the only eco-certification program that meets United Nations standards, our  fisheries are expected to receive even more attention at this year’s ESE. Half of all seafood harvested in our commercial capture fisheries is now MSC certified, making British Columbia a global leader in sustainability.

British Columbia’s spiny dogfish, popular in Europe and Korea, is the first shark fishery to be deemed sustainable by MSC. Have you tasted spiny dogfish? Let us know your favourite dish made with British Columbia’s sustainably-harvested fish. Watch out for this hot product at ESE!

If you can’t make it to ESE, contact your nearest British Columbia Trade and Investment office to find out more about investing in our seafood sector and sourcing our products. Follow BC Seafood on Twitter (@BCSeafood) or join the conversation on Facebook to keep on top of our seafood industry news from home.

Learn more about the advantages of locating in British Columbia

Two of British Columbia’s cities, Vancouver and Prince George, are the most cost-competitive locations for business on the west coast of North America, according to KPMG’s Competitive Alternatives 2012 study, released March 22, 2012.

British Columbia’s corporate tax rates, among the lowest in the G7, helped our cities come out on top, as taxes represented up to 18 per cent of location-related costs across the 110 cities evaluated in the study. Our low energy costs, fueled primarily by renewable hydroelectric power, also helped propel Vancouver and Prince George to the top of the chart. Utility costs can contribute up to 8 per cent of total location-sensitive costs.

KPMG’s report indicates Vancouver’s business costs are particularly competitive for companies in our world-class industry clusters, including digital media, financial services and clean technology.

The Competitive Alternatives study, an independent comparison of cities in 14 countries, helps executives considering business relocation and expansion. In addition to ranking cities based on 26 cost components, the study provides information on non-cost factors. British Columbia’s labour availability and skills, innovation, cost of living and personal quality of life were also contributing factors to our high rankings.

Interested in exploring the advantages of locating in one of the world’s most competitive business locations? Contact us for confidential, knowledgeable advice.

Has your business relocated to British Columbia from a higher cost region? Tell us your story!

British Columbia’s $8 billion mining sector continues to grow, with Tokyo-based Sojitz Corporation and Denver-based Thompson Creek Mining Ltd. announcing March 14, 2012 that they are expanding their jointly-owned Endako molybdenum mine near Fraser Lake.

British Columbia is a prime location for resource exploration and development, with eight new mines and nine mine expansions anticipated by 2015. Home to Canada’s only molybdenum mines, we are also the third largest exporter of coal globally by volume.

British Columbia is strategically located to meet the demands of growing markets for mining products, with Asia’s closest ports of entry on the west coast of North America. Molybdenum is used in the production of the steel required for construction and industrial development. The Endako expansion will double the mine’s molybdenum production capacity to 55,000 tonnes.

More than 1,200 mining companies operate in British Columbia, exploring rich opportunities in our vast natural resources, accessing more than 400 service suppliers to the mining industry and benefiting from our competitive business climate and mining incentives.

See your next shining opportunity here? Download Prospects in Mining & Natural Gas to learn more.

Which British Columbia mine is next on the expansion list? Let us know what you predict.

It’s been another great year for GLOBE 2012, the influential conference and fair on business and the environment. The need for global collaboration (or ‘collaboratory’ in the words of Jim Weigand, President of Dupont Sustainable Solutions) was a common thread through this week’s sessions.

GLOBE brought together the right elements for the collaboratory, including innovative developers of technology, multinational companies, key policy makers, associations and interest groups. Fittingly, they all met in Vancouver, British Columbia, which has pledged to be world’s greenest city by 2020.

At a Friday morning session, FortisBC and the U.S.-based Harvest Power discussed collaborating on waste to energy biogas projects. One of Harvest Power’s British Columbia companies is also working with the BC Bioenergy Network to deliver electricity to BC Hydro – developing an innovative model for other waste to energy projects in North America.

British Columbia is an ideal location to develop and commercialize bioenergy products and technologies – from wood as well as waste. With almost 11 billion cubic metres of timber, a strategic location at the commercial crossroads of Asia Pacific and North America, a supportive business environment, and a culture of clean technology collaboration, it is no wonder we already produce more biomass energy than any other region of North America.

Ready to join forces on bioenergy generation? Download more information on British Columbia’s forest products.

We’re looking forward to hearing about all the clean technology partnerships and innovations sparked by GLOBE 2012. Let us know about yours!

There are over 200 clean technology companies in British Columbia, and they are providing green solutions to the world. We got to speak to a few of these companies on the second day of GLOBE 2012, one of the world’s highest-profile summits on business and the environment.

Corvus Energy, the Richmond-based supplier of lithium power for large-scale applications, is exhibiting at GLOBE fresh from a trade show south of the border. They didn’t come home empty-handed, having recently landed deals to provide energy storage modules for commercial machinery and airport ground support equipment to major U.S. companies.

Vancouver’s Westport Innovations, the global leader in natural gas engines, was parked at GLOBE’s clean transportation pavilion and is seeing interest from France, Germany and South America at the show. The company just unveiled the result of a joint venture with Weichai Power: China’s first natural gas engine built with high pressure direct injection (HPDI) technology.

Lignol, one of the world’s most promising cellulose to ethanol companies, is also drawing a good crowd at GLOBE. Strong interest in the company’s products and technologies is coming from countries including the United States, Brazil and Belgium.

More British Columbia clean technology companies, including Future Vehicles Technologies and General Fusion, were recently featured in a segment on China’s CCTV Channel 10.

Where do you think British Columbia clean technology will go next?

British Columbia’s vast resources and reputation for innovation make it a natural global hub for clean technology and sustainable energy.  Industry leaders and governments from around the world must agree, as they have converged en masse in Vancouver for this week’s GLOBE conference and trade fair.

The GLOBE 2012 trade show features a 30-person-strong delegation from China.  The country’s impressive exhibit marks China’s first major presence at GLOBE and is aimed at building new business relationships and showcasing the country’s environmental products in the North American market.  With British Columbia’s strong cultural ties to the Asia-Pacific region and location on the west coast of Canada, it is the ideal place for Chinese companies to forge strategic partnerships.

China and British Columbia are already collaborating on many clean tech fronts. In today’s GLOBE session on Sustained Growth and Sustainability, the University of British Columbia’s Pierre Ouillet noted that his institution is working with one of China’s largest property developers, Modern Green, to build a green residential complex. Collaborations like these have helped the university significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions since GLOBE 2010. Ouillet explained that British Columbia’s business environment, with low taxes, smart regulations, and a government that actively encourages investment, provides the conditions required for sustainable success.

Many more clean technology leaders, including Austria, Britain, Dubai, Japan and Germany are joining China in pursuing opportunities in British Columbia at GLOBE 2012.

Stay tuned for more news from GLOBE 2012. Let us know what you’d like us to cover in the next few days.