Industry Minister Sells NAFTA Plus

But the rest of the world has not been standing still, far from it. A booming China is changing the competitive landscape and causing the reconfiguration of global supply chains. India is not far behind. The European Union, despite recent setbacks, will continue to get bigger and stronger as an economic union. Countries that resist adaptation put their economic future at risk. This new world, for us, our North America partnership is critical. Investors do not think in terms of investing in Mexico, the United States or Canada – they invest in North America. But they will only invest in North America if it is a competitive platform from which to compete in the global marketplace. We have to move beyond thinking of our partnership in terms of exports and imports with each other. We have to think in terms of a North American economic space – a common space in which our industries are closely linked by sophisticated, just-in-time supply chains, a space that is host to innovative clusters and networks that ultimately deliver jobs, wealth and opportunity for citizens in all three countries. Here in Canada we often reference the fact that 80 percent of our exports go to the US. But more relevant and perhaps more telling, is that 40 percent of our exports to the US are intra-firm exports – exports between subsidiaries of the same company. A large percentage are between companies deeply integrated into trans-border supply chains. We also know that increasingly, growth is driven by economic clusters that rely on pretty thin geographic borders. The automotive and auto parts sector in Windsor-Detroit is a great example. Whether we are talking about space technologies, chemicals or our growing hydrogen industry, we need borders that are friendly to business success and unfriendly to threat to our collective health ad security. NAFTA provided an important first step; now we must take our game to the next level. We need to eliminate the transportation bottlenecks, the small regulatory and other barriers that hurt the development of innovative clusters and that add unnecessary costs to doing business in North America. Some of this work has already begun. Now, through the Security and Prosperity Partnership that our Leaders announced in March, we intend to accelerate that process. That is the goal of the work plans that we are releasing today. We will be eliminating rules of origin requirements on another $30 billion of goods. We will build on regulatory cooperation that in some cases already exists. And we'll do it by putting a regulatory cooperation agreement in place by 2007. Our goal is to eliminate duplicative testing and the tyranny of small differences, remaining unalterably committed to high standards of health and safety for our citizens. Our goal is the joint realization of health, safety and well-being of our citizens. Nothing less. We will be working together to protect intellectual property because we know it is the cornerstone of innovation. We will be promoting more sectoral cooperation in our key industries, such as autos and steel, because we understand the need to work together to address today's global competitive challenges. We will be paying particular attention to what I call enabling sectors, such as information and communications, transportation and energy because of the competitive ramifications they have across all industries. One such initiative that we are announcing today is an e-commerce framework agreement that will promote electronic commerce while addressing issues of privacy and consumer protection. Finally, we understand prosperity in the broadest sense of the term. Improvements in areas such as food safety, public health and the environment not only add to our quality of life, but also have important economic implications. By bringing innovative thinking to these issues we create win-win opportunities for the economy and the environment. Much has been accomplished over the past 90 days. Now, plans must become action and results. The pay-off comes from implementing the initiatives announced today. We continue to need our stakeholders; many are in this room today, to challenge us with new ideas and advice that will ensure these initiatives are successful. And we will need to keep ourselves accountable, to our leaders, to you, and to all our citizens, in terms of our progress in advancing this important agenda. Finally, I want to say thanks to all of you because youprivate sector stakeholders, business groups, NGOs, consumer group have been a driving force you've been the thorn in our side and the wind at our back. We responded. As we go forward, new issues, new priorities will need to be added to our agenda. Driving the competitiveness of North America is not a one-shot deal. It's a constant, perpetual challenge in a game where playing conditions never stay the same. As partners, we must work together to make sure that North America adapts, evolves and succeeds. Our people expect no less. Thank you. Original document: http://www.ic.gc.ca/cmb/welcomeic.nsf/0/85256a5d006b97208525702d006aab2c?OpenDocument [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on June 28, 2005]

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