St. Pierre et Miquelon Delegation Visits the Burin Peninsula
9/21/2007 1:04:53 PM
College of the North Atlantic’s (CNA) Burin Campus and Schooner Regional Development Corporation (SRDC) will host a delegation from the French Islands of St. Pierre et Miquelon on September 24 and 25.
This visit by the French delegation continues an effort by CNA and SRDC to facilitate and promote international trade and partnerships between business in St. Pierre et Miquelon and the Burin Peninsula. This effort enhances an on-going project funded by the Atlantic Canadian Opportunities Agency and the provincial Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development. This effort began when a delegation from the Burin Peninsula led by representatives from the college and SRDC traveled to St. Pierre et Miquelon last year.
The purpose of these visits is to find areas where education, regional economic development, and public services in the two jurisdictions can cooperate and compliment each other for the betterment of both regions.
The delegation from St. Pierre consists of local business people and representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, post-secondary institutions, public works and other government agencies.
While on the Burin Peninsula, there will be tours and meetings between private businesses to explore partnership opportunities.
The public works group will be meeting with Burin Peninsula officials to discuss waste management, and with officials from Enel SpA, the developers of the St. Lawrence wind farm project, to discuss electrical generation.
The education group will be touring the college facilities on the Burin Peninsula and meeting with officials from CNA to explore possibilities for cross-border industrial certification of workers.
The future of the Burin and St. Pierre et Miquelon regions is very bright. The construction and the oil and gas projects currently in the planning stages represent many opportunities for the small and medium size enterprises in both regions.
Some of these projects, such as any development in the Laurentian sub-basin, will involve territorial waters from both countries. By cooperating and forming partnerships, companies in both regions will be better placed for direct and indirect business with these developments.
St. Pierre et Miquelon stands to gain economies of scale, access to infrastructure and markets that it would be unable to achieve on its own. Meanwhile, the Burin Peninsula can gain access to the markets, labour pool, and the technology of, not only St. Pierre et Miquelon, but the entire European Union.
While this cooperation is not new – there has been a long history of cooperation and even family ties between the two regions – the economy of both regions is changing, and new ways are needed to work together as the benefits of this new cooperation can be very significant.
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For further information, please contact
Glenda McCarthy
Public Relations Assistant
College of the North Atlantic
(709) 643-6408