<html>
<head>
<meta name="Generator" content="Corel WordPerfect 8">
<title>MR. MARCHI TO THE CANADA-U.S.A. BUSINESSWOMEN'S TRADE SUMMIT, TORONTO, ONTARIO</title>
</head>
<body text="#000000" link="#0000ff" vlink="#551a8b" alink="#ff0000" bgcolor="#c0c0c0">
<p><font face="Arial Bold" size="+1"></font><font face="Arial Bold" size="+1">99/36 <u>CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY</u></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial Bold" size="+1">NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY </font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial Bold" size="+1">THE HONOURABLE SERGIO MARCHI </font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial Bold" size="+1">MINISTER FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE </font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial Bold" size="+1">TO THE CANADA-U.S.A. BUSINESSWOMEN'S TRADE SUMMIT</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial Bold" size="+1">TORONTO, Ontario</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial Bold" size="+1">May 18, 1999</font></p>
<p><font size="+1"><strong><em>(8:00 a.m. EDT)</em></strong></font><font size="+1"><em></em></font></p>
<p>Let me begin by welcoming all of you to the first-ever Canada-U.S.A. Businesswomen's Trade Summit.</p>
<p>A special welcome to Secretary Daley and to Administrator Alvarez. Although I am outnumbered by Americans, I know that I am
among friends, and that we share the goal of seeking ways to make that friendship grow and prosper even more.</p>
<p>Let me just thank, on your behalf, our Toronto hosts for the terrific welcome they have shown us, especially the Royal Bank of
Canada for hosting such a marvellous reception yesterday evening.</p>
<p>To all of you who have come here to share your knowledge, to co-operate, to do business and, indeed, to lead the world in a
model of cross-border collaboration, let me say how pleased and excited we are about the possibilities that await us over the next
few days.</p>
<p>We have already had a great start to our Summit, and I am very honoured to be part of this important new venture between our
two nations.</p>
<p>It is certainly appropriate that this initiative should take place between Canada and the United States, for where else in the world
can two neighbours claim the kind of friendship and partnership that we enjoy? And what other trading relationship in the world
holds the tremendous potential for small businesses -- especially for those owned and led by women -- that ours does?</p>
<p>Here in Canada, women own or operate 30 percent of all businesses, providing 1.7 million jobs. That's more than our top 100
companies combined. In fact, women are creating jobs at four times the national rate.</p>
<p>The start-up rate of women-owned businesses is almost equal to that of businesses owned by men. By next year, we expect that
about half of Canada's new companies will be started by women.</p>
<p>Quite simply, women are fuelling the growth in small and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs] in this country and contributing both to
our balance of trade and to our national prosperity. And in this era of globalization and interdependence, Canada's national
prosperity is increasingly linked to our success in international markets.</p>
<p>As Canadian women entrepreneurs come of age and prosper at the close of this century, they are looking beyond Canada's
borders for the chance to compete internationally. And across the 49th parallel there is tremendous opportunity for more
partnerships and new markets.</p>
<p>It is only logical, then, that in our efforts to assist Canadian businesswomen, we should play to our strengths and focus on the United
States.</p>
<p>In fact, after I became Minister for International Trade in 1997, I was pleased to lead a significant outreach program to assist
Canadian women entrepreneurs in entering the U.S. market. This outreach program, the product of our Trade Commissioners in
Washington, came to be known as the Canadian Women's International Business Initiative.</p>
<p>The initiative started with the first-ever Canadian Women's Trade Mission to Washington in November 1997, which I had the
pleasure of leading. Nearly 120 Canadian businesswomen took part, and between the business activities I had the opportunity to
meet with many of them in smaller focus groups. </p>
<p>These business leaders taught me a great deal about client service and some of the things we in government need to do if we want
to be relevant to this core community of SMEs.</p>
<p>We were told we needed to do more for women exporters: to conduct better research and accumulate better data, to communicate
better so that women would be aware of the services we offer, and to provide more networking opportunities for businesswomen.</p>
<p>In each of these areas, I am pleased to report that we have listened. More important, we have begun to act.</p>
<p>We have undertaken additional outreach, particularly trade missions, to connect more Canadian businesswomen with our services
and with potential markets in the United States.</p>
<p>These include the first-ever Canadian Women's Mission to the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank in
Washington in March 1998, a Businesswomen's Mission to Chicago in January 1999, a Businesswomen's Mission to Los Angeles
in March 1999, and a Women's Information Technology Mission to the Federal Office Systems Exhibition in Washington just last
month.</p>
<p>We have also identified nearly 1600 women-owned businesses for addition to our WIN Exports database, which matches
opportunities abroad with products and services offered by companies here at home.</p>
<p>To make it easier to get information about the services available, we have created the Businesswomen in Trade Web site, which is
part of an overall Team Canada effort to make government services more accessible from Newfoundland to Nunavut to Nanaimo.</p>
<p>We have created and chaired the Trade Research Coalition, a public-private partnership that in the past year has surveyed
hundreds of Canadian businesswomen and launched public consultations from coast to coast.</p>
<p>On International Women's Day this year, the Coalition released its ground-breaking study entitled <em>Beyond Borders: Canadian
Businesswomen in International Trade</em>.</p>
<p>What emerges is a dynamic profile of Canadian businesswomen. Thirty percent of the companies surveyed begin exporting right
away, and most are exporting within two years of start-up.</p>
<p>And they are treating the whole world as their marketplace: 74 percent are exporting to the United States, 60 percent to Asia, 80
percent to Europe and 30 percent to Central and South America.</p>
<p>Women exporters are also setting aggressive growth targets, expecting to increase their exports by more than 50 percent and their
staff by 33 percent over the next two years.</p>
<p>The study told us that exporting is a priority for Canadian businesswomen, and that you want to compete globally as well as in the
United States.</p>
<p>This valuable research was a direct result of the mission to Washington 18 months ago.</p>
<p>At about the same time, our American neighbours were producing their own report, called <em>A Snapshot of Selected U.S. Women
Owned Exporting Firms</em>, which I'm sure my co-chairs will want to speak about in a moment.</p>
<p>When Secretary Daley and Administrator Alvarez and I met during the Canadian Businesswomen's Mission to Washington in
1997, we discussed the importance of gathering just this type of information, and how it could help us serve you better. We agreed
that we would share this information and discuss it with you here in Toronto today.</p>
<p>Let me just say that in terms of encouraging more women to begin or expand their exporting activities, we are making good
progress. But we still have a long way to go.</p>
<p>This summit affords us a valuable opportunity to share ideas, resources and best practices -- to move to the next stage and begin
the task of making the changes you need to expand your success.</p>
<p>The theme that has been chosen for our discussions today is "More Business for More Women Across Our Mutual Border." More
than a theme, it should be our goal, and I have every confidence that we can achieve it together.</p>
<p>And so I want to encourage all of you to participate fully in the discussions this morning. Share your frustrations as well as your
hopes. Let us know what's working and what's not. Tell us when government and regulators should open the way and when we
should simply get out of the way. </p>
<p>To the Canadian participants here today, let there be no doubt about your government's commitment to supporting your efforts.</p>
<p>Yes, change takes time. Often too much time. But I hope that by establishing a framework for you to contribute to and lead the
process of change, we will be able to hasten its pace.</p>
<p>In just a few moments, my co-chairs and I will sign a Joint Declaration that outlines our intention to enhance co-operation in a
number of significant areas.</p>
<p>We want to enhance your participation in developing policies and programs to serve you better. But we also want to support you
beyond our own borders. And by involving businesswomen from around the world in a similar dialogue, we hope to foster a more
favourable business environment for North American businesswomen globally.</p>
<p>For me, and I believe for my co-chairs as well, this Joint Declaration is not just a statement of intentions, it is a commitment to
action. It represents not what we <em>should</em> do, but what we <em>must</em> do.</p>
<p>This summit and this Joint Declaration mark a great day for Canadian and American businesswomen. They also send an uplifting
and reassuring message to younger women in business administration classrooms or in company offices across our countries. I want
to congratulate all of you for having come this far, and for bringing us politicians along for the ride!</p>
<p>We still have a long journey ahead of us. But we are on the right road and headed in the right direction. I am very pleased, and
indeed very proud, to share that journey with you.</p>
<p>Now, let's fasten our seatbelts and shift into high gear!</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
</body>
</html>
