JEDDAH: Twenty-five members of a Canadian business delegation held an interactive meeting with their local counterparts at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) on Monday night. “Seventy-five percent of the visiting group are first-timers, while the rest have established themselves through their local partners,” Francoise Faverjon-Fortin, vice president, infrastructure and environment at Ottawa-based Export Development Canada (EDC), and leader of the delegation told Arab News. The group had positive interactions both in Riyadh, which it earlier visited, and in Jeddah, she said.
Mohamed M. Attar, honorary consul general for Canada, and Sami Bahrawi, chairman of Jeddah Economic Forum (JEF) and board member of JCCI, welcomed the delegation. The JEF will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2009 with its annual event taking place from Feb. 14 to 17, Bahrawi said. It will discuss job creation as an integral part of a vibrant effective economy and activism; how the private sector can lead in finding solutions to macroeconomic issues facing our economies.
EDC provides innovative financing, insurance and bonding solutions to Canadian companies that export goods and services, or invest in other countries. “We operate in 200 markets worldwide, including 130 emerging markets. We help Canadian enterprises — mainly small and medium sized — manage risk and capitalize on trade opportunities around the globe,” Francoise said. In 2007, EDC financed 1.8 billion Canadian dollars to Canadian companies for their projects in the GCC region, 165 percent more than in 2006. “We have over 413 Canadian companies doing projects in the GCC, China, India, Brazil and Mexico,” she said.