British Columbia and its natural gas potential are the talk of Asia as Premier Christy Clark's 2013 Jobs and Trade Mission comes to a close. Premier Clark and International Trade Minister Teresa Wat led a diverse delegation with one common purpose: to strengthen ties in Asia and secure markets for British Columbia's liquefied natural gas (LNG).

"LNG is an unprecedented opportunity for B.C. with 100,000 jobs and 1 trillion dollars in new economic activity over 30 years to provide clean energy to power Asia's growth and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions," Premier Clark said. "Asian investors and governments now clearly understand that B.C. businesses and labour, First Nations and communities are united and working together to be a long-term stable supplier of British Columbia's clean natural gas."

Over 120 companies, First Nations and labour representatives, and organizations and communities took part in the Jobs and Trade Mission to China, Korea and Japan. Premier Clark and Minister Wat participated in high-level meetings with LNG decision makers and signed co-operation agreements with multiple levels of governments. This strategic outreach included:

• A tour of the Jiangsu Rudon liquefied natural gas terminal that offered a first-hand look at a facility that is ready to receive British Columbia's LNG exports.
• Premier Clark addressed forums dedicated to British Columbia's resources and natural gas in Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo.
• Key government-to-government agreements to expand co-operation and strengthen energy-related business opportunities, including:
• The Sichuan Department of Commerce;
• The Chongqing Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Commission (COFTEC);
• Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization;
• Korea's Gyeonggi Province; and,
• Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry.
• Bank of China (Canada), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank of China, announced it has consolidated its Canadian trade finance services at its International Business Centre in Vancouver; it will lead new trade settlement business for the Bank of China (Canada).
• Samsung Electronics announced the official opening of its first Canadian research and development centre in Burnaby; it will focus on developing mobile enterprise solutions.
• An agreement between the University of British Columbia and the Korea Gas Corporation to formulate a joint strategy related to fuel cell technology and the production, processing and liquefaction of natural gas.

Yesterday, Minister Wat witnessed the signing of an agreement between the Ministry of International Trade and the Guangdong Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation to advance trade and investment partnerships in the South China region. Minister Wat also attended a B.C. LNG forum in Guangzhou with approximately 50 representatives from South China's natural gas industry.

"China, Korea and Japan are actively changing their energy mix and looking for new solutions and partners, and this trade mission allowed us to personally deliver the message that British Columbia is open for business," Minister Wat said. "We promoted British Columbia's advantages in meetings with LNG investors and at B.C. resource forums in high priority markets, and we advanced government-to-government energy co-operation in countries where those relationships are the key to securing investment."

British Columbia's trade mission and its natural gas potential have been widely covered in the Asian media. Premier Clark and Minister Wat participated in a series of interviews with outlets that reach massive audiences, including CCTV, accessible to over a billion TV viewers, and news services Xinhua and Chinese Financial Times, which together are viewed by over 100 million readers per day. British Columbia's new energy partnership agreement with Japan was covered by major outlets such as Kyodo News, Nikkei and Denki Shimbun, a daily paper devoted to the energy industry, and a feature story about the mission and B.C. LNG was published yesterday in Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper, which has a circulation of over 835,000 readers.

Learn More:

Find all of the updates from #TM2013 on the BC Newsroom site: http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2013/10/growing-markets-in-asia-and-promoting-investment-in-british-columbia---trade-missions.html

Check out what the world sees about B.C. on www.BritishColumbia.ca, the Province's international-facing website, its Twitter feed at https://twitter.com/BCTradeInvest and on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/trade-&-invest-british-columbia

Contact:

Sam Oliphant
Press Secretary
Office of the Premier
250 952-7252

Blair Phelps
Communications Director
Ministry of International Trade and Minister Responsible for the Asia Pacific
Strategy and Multiculturalism
250 356-7104