Mayor Randy Hope and Michael Burton, Director of Investment Attraction and Government Relations for Chatham-Kent, will be participating with a Canadian contingent attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)’s CEO Summit in Lima Peru later this month.
Burton said Chatham-Kent was invited to attend by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit Host Committee to participate in the invitation-only event.
“This trip will enable us to have both exclusive and meaningful dialogue with very senior Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade officials while at the summit,” Burton said. ”We have foreign direct investment funding available which will cover fifty percent of our costs.”
A local investor will be accompanying the municipal officials to the event which is expected to attract delegates from 21 countries. Hope and Burton leave mid- November and will be gone for five days.
The summit will be attended by CEOs from major global corporations. While in Peru, Burton said C-K officials will also be meeting with both new investors and already-established contacts with an interest in the municipality.
“We are arranging to follow up on investor contacts in the food processing sector from Peru. We had a second visit from Peruvian visitors to C-K in September and we would like to further the conversation with this group while in Lima,” he said.
Mayor Randy Hope said the invitation is a result of the community’s growing reputation as a municipality which actively pursues investment.
“We are becoming known as a place that just doesn’t wait for investment to come to us,” he said. “We are committed to marketing Chatham-Kent at home in Canada and around the world.”
Burton said such meetings result in leads to investment.
“I expect that, just as the Washington “Select USA” event uncovered a number of solid leads, we will enjoy the same outcome at this summit. One of the contacts at the Washington conference resulted in the company agreeing to purchase property in the Blenheim Industrial Park.”
Attendees at the APEC summit include world leaders such as American President Barak Obama, President Xi Jinping of China and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trudeau said “the Asia Pacific region is critical to our country’s economic future and to growing our middle class. I look forward to promoting Canada as a partner of choice for trade and investment in the region while embracing the theme of quality and inclusive economic growth that Peru has put forward this year.
Peru is a valued partner for Canada in both the hemisphere and the Asia-Pacific region, and I look forward to meeting host President Kuczynski.”
Is this on the tax payers dollar?