International trade promising, Nexus delegates hear

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Not since Columbus arrived in the New World in search of valuable resources to ship back home has international trade looked as full of promise as it does today, particularly for Native North Americans, a First Nation Trade Show heard.

But this time around, Natives should take control of their own business and exploit overseas markets to their advantage or risk missing the boat on economic prosperity, said a longtime veteran of international trade.

"(Aboriginals) must think globally," Jim Laurie, director of the Hong Kong Canadian Business Association of Canada told the 200 delegates to Nexus '94. "If they don't, they'll go bankrupt."

Laurie said Natives hoping to develop successful businesses in an unfettered world markets should look to Hong Kong, where he worked as a consultant for years.

"It is the leading example in the world of how free enterprise works," he said. "There are some things you can learn from them without reinventing the wheel."

And Natives should take advantage of services Canadian banks have established to cater to First nations, international, and Asian business interests, he said.

Robin Wortman, executive director of the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers, in Alberta, says Aboriginals are in good positions to enter into joint ventures with Asian companies because they share a management style based on close ties to the environment, sharing, co-operation and respect for Elders.

And the demand for Native products is high overseas because of the exotic appeal of First Nations abroad, he added.

"Aboriginal goods and services are more valuable in foreign markets (because) German and Japanese interest in traditional Indian culture and products far outweighs the domestic demand," he said.

Wortman also said opportunities exist for off-shore investment in Native Canadian ventures because investors have more money to invest and may be more sympathetic to First Nations than locals.

Closer to home, Natives should capitalize on bigger markets opened up by the North American Free Trade Agreement, which is expected to increase Canada's gross national product by 2.5 per cent by the year 2000, he said.

"With NAFTA, borders that restricted free trade will be removed and Aboriginals will be free once more to trade and (enter into) joint ventures among themselves as they did in pre-contact times."

Taking advantage of new opportunities created by the removal of trade barriers must begin with First Nations people, said Bradly Condon, who teaches international trade policy at Simon Fraser University.

We have to find ways to prepare present and future generations to promote trade through exchange programs, for instance, he told the conference.

"What we have to do is teach them the language and culture of people with whom they do business."

And that mutual understanding needs to begin at home," he said.

"There's a big cultural gap between Natives and non-Natives in this country," said Condon.

But other speakers emphasized the need to separate business from politics, and in that regard, Laurie said, we can also learn from the Asians.

Working for the Hong Kong government, Laurie learned China wanted to increase trade with Korea, a long-time enemy, and offered to be the go-between. His help was politely declined.

"It's not politics," he was told, "we're doing business."

The two-day conference and trade show, organized in association with the Native Investment and Trade Association, included entrepreneurs exhibiting products and services from Cree Industries, a Native firm that builds on-reserve housing, to B.C.'s Multi Comp Services, which has developed a computer software package for bands across the country. There was also a woman exhibiting kits of unassembled mini button blankets.

It also brought together investors and entrepreneurs from across the U.S. and Canada, like one Native would-be enterprising farmer from northern Saskatchewan who made a public offer during onesenar to anyone interested in marketing millions of kilograms of berries, wild rice and fish from his band's chemical-free land.

No word on whether he inked a deal that day, but his sales pitch earned a hearty round of applause.