Sunday June 1, 2025 | VANCOUVER, BC [reporting from VICTORIA, BC]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
On Saturday May 31, BC Premier David Eby held a media availability ahead of his trade mission to Asia.
He was joined for the media session at the Vancouver International Airport (YVR) by YVR President and CEO Tamara Vrooman and MLA Paul Choi who is the BC Parliamentary Secretary for Asia-Pacific Trade.
Agriculture and Food Minister Lana Popham will also take part in the trade mission, as announced on May 14 in Victoria.
YVR support:
Vrooman said the BC is heading off to Asia “at a very critical time”. The Airport “moves cargo and is doing our part to expand access to trade to Asia-Pacific through the airport”, said Vrooman.
“Last year saw a record for cargo volume through YVR, connecting Asia-Pacific to the rest of the country. This year is also a strong year and we expect we will set another record,” she said ahead of turning over the microphone to Premier Eby.
Connecting businesses in Asia-Pacific:
The BC trade mission is about connecting the Province and local businesses to opportunities in the Asia-Pacific area. Premier Eby says BC faces two-thirds of the Asia-Pacific region through air and ports.
“Our team is very excited to be going to Asia to deliver for British Columbians,” said Eby in his opening remarks. “British Columbians know, right now, the challenge and threat that we face from the (US) President,” said Eby, noting “in addition the most recent announcement about steel tariffs, softwood lumber tariffs and additional global trade instability with China imposes tariffs on our seafood industry, for example”.
“Now is the time for us to diversity our trade relationships around the world and to ensure that we have strong relationships with countries that want to do business with us,” said Eby.
Eby and his BC team are headed to Japan, Korea and Malaysia. The Premier highlighted the contributions that Parliamentary Secretary Choi will make on the Korean leg of the tour, being a leader in the Korean business community in Vancouver.
During this trade mission, BC will promote critical minerals from the mining sector, energy products such as LNG, BC softwood lumber, food trade, scientific and educational exchange, and overall economic trade relationships.
The cultural exchange helps with “increased understanding”, which helps develop prosperity.
The overall message will be about “stability”, said Eby, highlighting the food aspect of trade in that regard: agricultural products and sales, as well as food-related tourism.
BC is Canada’s economic engine:
“BC is going to be the economic engine of the Canada that’s emerging,” said Eby who has “engaged with the prime minister about his vision for the country”. That includes “a stronger economy where we stand on our own two feet”, said Eby, in particular being less dependent on the United States.
As part of BC prospering, the province has access to “incredible facilities like YVR as well as our ports which face two-thirds of the world’s population, incredible resource,s and most importantly the people that make it all come to life,” said Eby yesterday.
That’s the message I’ll be bringing on this visit. British Columbia is a reliable trading partner, we’re ready to join you and do more business. We appreciate very much the business that you’ve engaged in with our province so far. And we want to do more,” said Eby as an encapsulated message for the audiences he will meet in person in Japan, Korea and Malaysia.
“We’ve gotta stick together as Canadians right now, and we’re going to do that,” said Premier Eby.
Private businesses on the trip:
A number of private businesses are going along on the BC trade mission as well as research people from universities for academic, educational cultural and language exchanges. “All of which facilitates trade and all of which is crucially important,” said Eby.
Critically important work in trade continues with Vietnam and the Phllippines and other countries in the area, said Eby. “This is a massive growth area for British Columbia,” he told media. That includes free trade agreements and people who live in BC who “trace their roots to these areas in terms of language and culture and have businesses already with business relationships that we can expand”, the premier said.
That’s part of being the economic engine of Canada, a role that BC is emerging into as a result of trade threats from the US. “We are stepping into the role that we’ve been put into by this moment,” said Eby as to BC being the gateway to new and more markets. Resources and clusters of expertise are part of this.
“As the president (of the United States) ramps up his attack on core industries in central Canada it redoubles the importance of what we have to do here in British Columbia to support the national economy,” said Premier Eby.
“Any support we can provide to those provinces, we will, because we know it’s just a matter of time before Mr Trump actualizes even further impacts on, for example, the softwood sector here in British Columbia. And we know they’ll stand there for us for our softwood sector that may be impacted by the activities out of the White House.”
Food component of the trip:
Malaysia was included as a destination on BC’s Asia-Pacific trade mission for a couple of reasons, including that this year Malaysia is chairing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2025.
As well, Eby pointed out that an International Halal Showcase will be held in Malaysia in September of this year where food distributors come from around the world to buy Halal products for distribution to their customers in multiple countries.
Agriculture Minister Popham will identify opportunities for BC companies in Malaysia, said Eby. BC also has existing economic partners in Malaysia, said Eby, also noting that BC has significant investment in the LNG sector from Malaysia.
Eby described how BC sweet cherries are a popular BC food product in the Asian market as a result of the free trade agreement that had been struck with Korea. A company in the BC interior does very well exporting “remarkably amazing fruit from our province to Asia”.
“Products from BC have a reputation for being very high standard, very safe, a level of understood purity of the food that makes it extra desirable and able to command premium prices,” said Eby, with those cherries in mind.
“It’s so important to realize that, whether it’s seafood, or fruit or processed foods. They’re all very welcome. The opportunity and the challenge that many businesses produce these products, they don’t have the capacity to be out to different countries or identifying an opportunity like the Halal Fair in Malaysia. And so as government we’re able to support them at the provincial level and the federal level with the resources to be able to make it real,” Eby outlined.
Processed goods like wine to raw fruits and vegetables will be on the government’s promotional plate on this trade mission.
“We’re going to build on those strengths that are already present in those markets,” said Eby, indicating that aspect of the trade mission being done by Minister Popham.
Tourism — including around food — is enhanced by trade missions like this one, said Eby.
===== RELATED:
- BC trade mission to Asia in June 2025 (May 14, 2025)
- Life sciences sector gets BC boost by Bailey in Boston (June 5, 2023)
- BC Indo-Pacific trade mission: diversify trade routes, learn about housing options (May 27, 2023)
- BC opens forestry trade office in Vietnam (April 20, 2022)
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