OTTAWA – Mayor Jim Watson will travel to Beijing, China and Bangkok, Thailand in November with a delegation of local business and tourism leaders. The purposes of the mission will be to promote Ottawa as a leading innovation centre in Canada, to attract investment for Ottawa businesses, and to encourage tourism to Ottawa ahead of 2017.

“Our local businesses, especially in the technology and tourism sectors, are uniquely positioned to attract investment and interest from around the world,” said Mayor Watson. “We need to maintain and grow Ottawa’s relationships abroad to ensure we can stay competitive in the global economic landscape.”

Beijing, China (November 16 to 19)

Mayor Watson and about 15 local business leaders will begin the mission in Beijing, Ottawa’s only sister city.

While in Beijing, Mayor Watson will speak at an investment and innovation seminar hosted by Invest Ottawa and its partners. The purpose of the event is to promote investment opportunities in Ottawa to more than 100 Chinese investors and entrepreneurs.

Mayor Watson and delegates will also meet with the Beijing municipal government, China’s Ministry of Culture and the Canadian Ambassador. Additional meetings and discussions are expected to explore investments, cultural exchanges, and opportunities to recognize the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017.

The Ottawa-Beijing Sister City Agreement was signed by Mayor Watson in 1999 and he last visited in 2013 with Ottawa’s largest-ever business delegation.

During the 2013 mission, several foreign direct investment agreements and memoranda of understanding worth millions of dollars were signed between partners in the business, tourism and education sectors. With Ontario’s exports to China surpassing the $2 billion mark in 2014 alone, the Chinese market remains a lucrative priority for Ottawa companies.

“Following the success of the 2013 mission where we saw participating companies closing investment deals, it is not surprising to see the number of companies interested in participating in this mission,” said Bruce Lazenby, President and CEO of Invest Ottawa. “China continues to represent a massive opportunity for Ottawa companies and we are happy to leverage the relationships and networks that we have established to help these companies penetrate the Chinese market.”

In the last two years, Invest Ottawa has organized 10 outgoing missions to China and received about 30 incoming delegations. To date, about 120 local high-tech companies have benefited from bilateral trade, investment, and partnership activities.

News source: Ottawa City (http://ottawa.ca/en/news/mayor-watson-lead-economic-mission-china-and-thailand)