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NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY

THE HONOURABLE SERGIO MARCHI,

MINISTER FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE,

TO THE LUNCHEON FOR WILLIAM DALEY,

U.S. SECRETARY OF COMMERCE,

OFFERED BY THE CANADIAN BUSINESSWOMEN'S

INTERNATIONAL TRADE MISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

November 13, 1997

This document is also available on the Department's Internet site: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca

Secretary Daley, fellow Canadian Parliamentarians, ladies and gentlemen:

I must admit that one of the best things about the job of International Trade Minister is the opportunity to assist and represent our Canadian business community when we take on the world on missions such as this. It is a source of great pride for me.

I believe that when we export our products and services, we are also exporting our country's values and promoting our country's international image. In this way, you, the women entrepreneurs from Canada and the United States here today, are preparing for an important task when you take on the challenge of preparing for export markets for the first time.

But this is not the only reason your governments take an interest in your success.

In this era of rationalization of precious government resources, we cannot afford to be complacent. We cannot continue to do things the way we always have. We cannot be all things to all people.

We in government must target our activities more sharply toward those sectors that have the most potential for growth and that will benefit the most from our help. In a country where international trade sustains one job in three, I cannot afford to fail in this task.

And who is responsible for the bulk of our trade? It seems incredible that 50 Canadian firms alone achieve almost 50 percent of our exports. And when you consider that only 10 percent of our small and medium-sized businesses [SMEs] export, this tells me that there is a lot of room for growth in this important segment of our business community.

We asked ourselves the questions: "Why are SMEs not exporting?" "What innovative strategies can we develop to help them get their goods and their services into international markets?" "In which areas can we focus our resources where it makes the most sense?" "What are the trends and how can we take advantage of them?"

Well, when I look at the face of SMEs in Canada today, one striking trend emerges. And that is the incredible dynamism of women entrepreneurs.

In the last 20 years, self-employed women have had the fastest rate of growth of all employment sectors in our economy. Today, women own and lead almost one third of all Canadian companies.

In total, their businesses employ more people than Canada's top 100 companies.

Over two million Canadians work in businesses owned and led by women.

Clearly, the world of business is no longer just a man's world -- and hasn't been for some time now.

And it should surprise no one that our Chief Trade Commissioner and the head of the new SME division in my department are both accomplished women.

Indeed, the same is true in this country, where both the trade representative and the head of the Small Business Administration are also outstanding women.

But despite these incredible statistics, women entrepreneurs are under-represented in our trade culture. And I want to change that.

The purpose of this mission is to do just that. This mission will encourage the contacts that lead to contracts.

It also made perfect sense to me that we should launch this initiative in Washington.

The mid-Atlantic states surrounding Washington represent one of the richest markets in the world. Seventy-five percent of the world's multinational enterprises are represented in Washington. It also has the second-highest concentration of high-tech firms outside Silicon Valley. This $11.5-billon market holds incredible potential for all sectors of the Canadian economy, including businesses owned and led by women.

That being said, I want to assure you that the Canadian businesswomen with us here today -- and hundreds of thousands back home -- are ready to do business with you in any part of this country.

After all, Canada and the United States are each other's largest trading partner.

The potential that exists for us in this market is why we must take the steps to support our exporters and to encourage more of our businesses to look across the border for opportunities.

We have to focus our assistance where our customers are and where we are most relevant.

And to do so means a sharper targeting of our activities toward those sectors that have the most potential for growth, and that will benefit the most from our help.

Women-led and women-owned small and medium-sized businesses are certainly in that category.

Another reason for beginning with our largest trading partner and closest ally is that it makes sense for new exporters to start off in a market that is relatively close to home and that has relatively similar business practices.

It is an opportunity for our companies to gain valuable exporting expertise before going global.

And I have every expectation that they will do so.

Because the products and services being offered by the Canadian businesswomen with us today are world class! They represent everything from aerospace to automobiles and from petroleum products to the new leading-edge environmental industries.

They are manufacturers of computer software and other information technology products, of food and drink, of health aids, toys, paints, pharmaceuticals, paper, promotional products, clothing, jewellery, artwork and much more.

They are experts in management consulting, taxation, transportation, communications, education, film distribution, estate planning, strategic alliances, government relations, talent management and other services.

And many of them have put deals in place already.

In fact, later today we will have the opportunity to witness the signing of contracts and strategic alliances in areas as diverse as cross-border freight shipping, specialty papers, media products, promotional products, printing and others.

But, believe me, there will be more. We have found that following similar trade information sessions, fully 55 percent of the group go on to make their first sales in the United States within a year to a year and a half.

And as we agreed when we met last summer, Mr. Secretary -- when you led a delegation of small and medium-sized businesses to Ottawa -- the success of trade missions is in the follow-up.

To that end, your department here in Washington along with the Small Business Administration and my department in Ottawa have agreed to work together on a Canada-U.S. Women's Trade Summit to take place at York University in Toronto in May 1999.

In fact, I had a very productive meeting yesterday with Mrs. Alvarez of the Small Business Administration, and, like you, Mr. Secretary, she is very supportive of this initiative.

The objective of the Summit is twofold.

First, it will bring together women business leaders from our two countries to identify -- and recommend ways to eliminate -- the barriers that inhibit businesswomen from entering international markets.

Second, it will attract an American trade delegation working through the U.S. Consulate in Toronto for two days of meetings, site visits and one-on-one business contacts. In this way, the Summit will embody the exact objectives the policy dialogue is supposed to address -- that is, more business for more women across more borders.

The ideas and recommendations from the Summit will also be taken forward to the Conference on Women Entrepreneurs sponsored by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] in the year 2000.

To make sure our joint Summit and the OECD Conference have solid data on the particular issues women in business face, we are putting together a "research coalition" of government, private-sector and academic representatives. My department will take a lead role in co-ordinating this activity along with Industry Canada and Status of Women Canada.

I am proud to recognize our first partners in this coalition. They are the Royal Bank of Canada, which has also been a generous sponsor of this mission, and the Women Entrepreneurs of Canada Foundation -- both of which are represented here today.

In fact, the Women Entrepreneurs of Canada Foundation and the National Foundation for Women Business Owners here in the United States have agreed to co-operate in this task and will also be signing a memorandum of understanding to that effect later today.

But let me assure you that we are not going to wait until the next millennium before taking action!

As part of my department's ongoing program for exporters, a special visit is being planned to Washington next year. Its focus will be on international financial institutions and how to increase the number of Canadian women consultants winning contracts financed by the World Bank and the InterAmerican Development Bank.

We are going to complement our efforts on trade fairs and missions with a more concerted effort to provide Canadian businesswomen with the information they need to export their products and services. We will make greater use of vehicles such as the Internet to help bridge the information gap for women entrepreneurs.

And I also want to ensure that we increase the number of women participants on Team Canada trade missions -- most notably, on our upcoming Latin American trip in January.

These initiatives in support of businesswomen are part of our overall effort to help all small and medium-sized businesses increase their exports through what I call Team Canada Inc.

The SME division that I have recently created within my department will focus on meeting the special needs of new exporter constituencies, particularly the needs of small and medium-sized businesses led and owned by women.

Having people "on the ground" in diverse marketplaces around the world is another essential ingredient for the success of our exporting efforts. We have made a commitment to increase by 30 percent the number of Canadian Trade Commissioners working at posts around the world.

I believe that these and other initiatives will make a real difference for Canada's current and potential exporters.

In closing, I want to salute the Canadian and American businesswomen here today. Yours has not always been an easy road to travel -- not only in moving from domestic markets into international trade, but also in that long and sometimes daunting struggle just to start up a business and make it grow.

But I would like to leave you with a comment -- and a compliment -- from one of Canada's most colourful and outspoken politicians, the late Charlotte Whitton, who was the Mayor of Ottawa back in the 1950s.

She once said: "For a woman to get half as much credit as a man, she has to work twice as hard, and be twice as smart."

To which she then added in her own unique way: "Fortunately, that isn't difficult."

Well, maybe the "credit" she was referring to was not the kind that is usually on the mind of a small businesswoman sitting in a bank manager's office looking for start-up capital!

But whether you agree or disagree with all or part of her statement, I think all of us can agree that not only do women have the right and the ability to be full economic participants -- it is in all our best interests to help ensure that more businesswomen take the plunge into international markets.

And when you do, it means increased economic opportunities for all business people, increased growth for our economy, and more jobs.

And when you do, I want you to know that your government will be here for you. Like any other good business partner, we will be listening to what you, our clients, want from us, providing information and services that are more timely, more accessible, more responsive, and always with an eye to the future.

And from where I stand right now, looking out at all the hard-working, creative, intelligent and ambitious talent seated before me, that future sure looks great.

I will be proud, and indeed I look forward to the day when each and every one of the participants in this historic mission takes on the role of representing Canada as an exporter of the best our country has to offer.

Thank you, and good luck.