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An investment and trade conference linking up six states in the Southeast and six provinces in Canada is returning to Savannah this June, 14 years after holding its first official event in the coastal Georgia city.
The agreement that formed the Southeast U.S.-Canadian Provinces Alliance was signed in Montreal, Quebec, in 2007, but it wasn’t until the following year in Savannah that the group began providing the business-to-business matchmaking, procurement assistance and cross-border investment insight the annual conclave is now known for.
When held in person — SEUS/CP was forced to go virtual after 2019 — the conference alternates between a Southern state and a Canadian location each year, usually zeroing in on a timely theme in the bilateral relationship.
The Savannah forum June 19-21 will be no different, with leadership roundtables focused on North American supply chains, sustainability in agriculture and subnational engagement. A particular emphasis among the speaker set will be electric mobility, transportation and logistics.
A hallmark of the program each year is the intentional focus on helping small and medium-sized companies navigate the cross-border procurement process, selling both to government agencies and to the massive companies that make themselves available for meetings. This year’s anchor companies come from some of the state’s corporate and logistical powerhouses, including the Georgia Ports Authority, Georgia Power, Kia, Delta Air Lines, Norfolk Southern and the Coca-Cola Co.
The return of the in-person conference comes a year after Georgia posted 16 percent growth to Canada, which purchased $6.18 billion in Georgia goods in 2021 and remained the top market for the state’s exports. Georgia imported about $5 billion from the country, leading to an $11 billion total trade relationship. Canada sells about the same volume of goods to Georgia alone as it does to all of Mexico.
“This conference reinforces our reciprocal trade relationship, and we are delighted to host business leaders again in Savannah. We appreciate the incredible support our Georgia business community, Alliance partners and our sponsors have provided to make SEUS-CP a dynamic business event,” said Mary Waters, deputy commissioner for international trade at the Georgia Department of Economic Development, in a news release.
Member states from the Southeast include Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Canadian members include New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Quebec.
To register for the conference and qualify for business-to-business matchmaking meetings, go here.
