Teresa Wat, Minister of International Trade and Minister Responsible for the Asia Pacific Strategy and Multiculturalism, has issued this statement today:

"British Columbia commends the Government of Canada for reaching an agreement-in-principle for a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union.

"Our province depends on trade and investment to drive economic activity and create jobs for British Columbians, and our government supports this agreement-in-principle and the outcomes we expect it to deliver for B.C. We support open trade policies that will allow B.C. companies preferential access to sell their goods and services to the EU - the largest trading bloc in the world with a combined GDP of $17 trillion and a population of 500 million consumers- and to international markets across the Pacific and around the world.

"That is why British Columbia has been an active participant throughout the CETA negotiations for the past four years, sharing the views of British Columbians, including municipalities, industry associations, businesses and citizens, with the federal government. We strongly urge the same collaborative model be used to rapidly advance other international trade negotiations with our priority markets in the Asia Pacific region, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Korea, India and Japan.

"British Columbia believes that successfully concluding the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and reaching historic trade agreements with Korea, India and Japan - all identified as priority markets in the BC Jobs Plan - will help maintain our momentum as we diversify our trade and investment partners.

"As part of that drive to open and expand markets for our goods and services, we are already working to strengthen British Columbia's historically strong and economically vital ties to the European Union. We have expanded our European Trade and Investment Office, located in London, to attract investment into B.C. and help connect our companies and communities with opportunities throughout Europe.

"In the coming weeks, the Ministry of International Trade will lead the government's thorough review of the CETA agreement-in-principle to determine possible impacts and additional opportunities for the province.

To find out more about those opportunities and this CETA agreement-in-principle, I encourage you to contact our Trade Policy team by emailing CETA@gov.bc.ca."

Learn More:

To see what the world sees about B.C.'s competitive advantages, check out the Province's international-facing website: www.BritishColumbia.ca

Learn more about the BC Jobs Plan at: www.bcjobsplan.ca

Contact:

Media Relations
Ministry of International Trade
Minister Responsible for the Asia Pacific Strategy and Multiculturalism
778 977-0298