Guests of NCTM Law Firm, Québec's European representatives met to coordinate action on European markets 

 

The Centro Studi Italia-Canada was present in Rome, on 5 and 6 June 2018, for the annual meeting between the Heads of Economic Affairs of the Delegations of Québec in Europe, coming from Rome, London, Paris, Brussels, Barcelona and Monaco. The meeting, coordinated by the Directorate of European Markets of the Ministry of Economics, Science and Innovation of Québec, was hosted at the Rome office of Nctm Law Firm, which maintains intense relations with Canada, Québec and, specifically, with the Delegation of Québec in Rome, currently represented by Marianna Simeone. 

Europe represents a priority market for Québec, which, with the entry into force of CETA, offers new and significant opportunities. Open and active on the international scene, Québec is equipped with a network of 29 representatives worldwide, which develop important synergies with the bodies responsible for local institutional and / or business economic affairs on the territory in which they operate, contributing to the prosperity and promotion of the Canadian province, its economic institutions, the expertise of Quebec. 

Québec, the French-speaking province of Canada, has about 8 million inhabitants and has a strong economic potential due to its exceptional resources in terms of raw materials, energy, productivity, and creativity. Canadian innovation is revealed mostly in Québec, in the industrial sectors of aerospace, artificial intelligence, pharmaceuticals and the audiovisual sector, they are a source of interest for countries and companies that look favorably on internationalization. 

The geographical position is among the factors that support Québec, the first gateway to North America for Europe and whose river, the Saint Lawrence allows direct access, not only to Canada, but also to the American Midwest. The abundance of natural resources of the Québec territory contributes significantly to the production of wealth and therefore to an increase in employment, with particular attention to environmental policies that are also expressed in “water policy”. 

Québec has been developing for some years now integrated systems for the North American reservoir management which includes the St. Lawrence River, such as the Maritime Strategy and the Plan Nord.

These same themes were already at the center of the visit to Italy in 2015 by the Premier of Quebec, Philippe Couillard, for the 50th anniversary of Québec's representative in Rome, also on that occasion as guest of Nctm Law Firm. 

During the economic forum organized by the studio legale, the prime minister presented the twenty-year plan by $ 50 billion CAD (Plan Nord) for which Italian companies has been called to collaborate through technology, capital goods and engineering capabilities of the SME. 

To know more: 

•   Water and climate. Meeting of the Great Rivers of the World
• Interview with Jean Lemire, Emissary for Climate Change and Northern Québec Issues

In the same year, precisely on June 15th, Nctm Law Firm also had the pleasure of hosting in Rome the Conference "Economia e Francofonia", organized by the Delegation of Québec in Rome in order to deepen the role of the French language in the economy. In fact, from 2015 to 2017, the Delegation of Québec in Rome held the presidency of the Francofone Embassy Group (GAF), representatives of the International Organization of Francophonie (OIF), which works to promote the culture and values of the French language and Francophone countries. It was in this capacity that the Delagation organized the conference in which took part also the Minister of International Relations and Francophonie of Québec, Madame Christine St-Pierre.

Due to a European cohesion cultivated at the regional level, Québec has signed some industrial agreements programs (PAI) with the Lombardy Region, with Catalonia, Bavaria, Wallonia, Flanders and Brussels-Capital. The PAIs essentially serve to facilitate technology transfers and to implement strategic partnership agreements, such as research projects, joint ventures, licensed manufacturing, etc.). 

With the aim of coordinating the action of the various delegations on the European markets through a comparison of their respective opportunities and challenges, and sharing of regional practices, the meeting of the Delegations was therefore an opportunity for reflection on the strategies to be adopted in a world in constant and rapid evolution. The Centro Studi Italia-Canada, as an active actor in the promotion and dissemination of knowledge on the opportunities for cooperation between Italy and Canada in general, and between Italy and Québec in particular, was able to present to the delegates the objectives of the initiative, the strategy and the possible synergies to be put in place with regional representatives, institutional and private entities, and other entrepreneurial entities working for the same purposes.