The Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador sent a delegation to Georgia last week to call on prospects and to promote its business opportunities. 

Along with Georgia, Newfoundland and Labrador is a member of the SEUS-Canada alliance, launched last year to foster business ties between six Southeastern states and seven Canadian provinces through yearly meetings and informational exchanges.

Georgia helped kickstart the alliance, which held its inaugural conference in Savannah in June.

Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the Atlantic Ocean in the northeastern part of Canada, will host next year’s SEUS-Canada conference in the city of St. John’s from July 26-28.

On his first visit to Georgia, Newfoundland and Labrador Minister of Business Paul Oram told GlobalAtlanta that the province’s economic turnaround is a simple story.

After a moratorium on cod fishing caused by overfishing struck the heart of Newfoundland and Labrador's economy in the 1980s, the province found its "savior" in oil and natural gas discoveries, Mr. Oram said in a filmed interview at the law offices of Smith, Gambrell & Russell LLP.

New mining opportunities, a focus on information communication technology and oil and gas jobs helped stop an exodus from the province that shut down entire communities.

This year, the province had net inbound migration for the first time in 26 years, Mr. Oram said.

With just more than a half-million people in the province, the government had a $1.6 billion budget surplus this year, he said.

But the province isn’t resting on recent success.  It learned from the cod debacle not to depend too much on one source of income, he said.  

“At end of day we know that oil and gas is a non-renewable resource, so what we’ve done is we’ve taken the profits that we see in the oil and gas industry and we take this and build a foundation,” said Mr. Oram, whose relatively new department focuses on increasing inbound business activity.

The effort to diversify extends throughout the energy sector in the province.  Mr. Oram said Newfoundland and Labrador has developed ocean technologies that use the movement of the tides to produce energy.

The province also has hydroelectricity projects that create 5,900 megawatts of power and wind projects that create about 4,000 megawatts, he said, noting that he met with officials from Georgia Power during his visit to Atlanta.

Newfoundland and Labrador shares other struggles and interests with Georgia. Both locales are looking to increase tourism and trade by branding themselves throughout the world.

Mr. Oram made a trip to India in February and has shared his experiences in the vibrant economy with Georgia officials, who are set to leave on a trade mission there next week.

He said the SEUS-Canada partnership will create opportunity for the two locales to boost interaction, but sustaining business partnerships will require persistence.

Mr. Oram enjoyed the hospitality of Georgians and said the friendly disposition of the people here reminded him of home.

Georgians should visit Newfoundland and Labrador, which is accessible in about six hours by flights through the cities of Toronto or Montreal, he said.

“We don't really need to get on a flight that lasts 12 hours when we can exchange cultural differences—and I mean that in a positive way—with each other,” he said.

Tourism has become a thriving industry in Newfoundland and Labrador, a land Mr. Oram says offers beautiful summers and cold winters. 

About 500,000 travelers visited the province to enjoy activities such as skiing, whale watching, camping, hiking and fishing, spending a total of nearly $360 million in 2007, according to the province’s Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation. 

Tourism in Newfoundland and Labrador as well as in Georgia is about telling the story of a place and connecting with visitors, Mr. Oram said.

“If we tell that story with passion and we show people what we have to offer, they're going to come here and spend money here,” he said.

2008 The Agio Press, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without expressed permission.

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