April 28, 2003
Role of Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurs in BC Economy
Motion on Notice
R. Lee: It's my honour to rise in this House and move Motion 68 standing in my name on the order paper.
[Be it resolved that this House recognizes the important role of Chinese Canadian entrepreneurs in strengthening the economy of British Columbia.]
Chinese Canadians have a long history in British Columbia. Chinese Canadian pioneers established businesses in trading companies, agricultural products distribution, grocery stores, laundries and restaurants. Some — for example, Mr. Roy Mah — even went into the publishing business. Some studied to invest in the real estate business and supermarkets. The families of H. Y. Louie are good examples. Besides, Dr. Milton Wong, Mr. King Wong and Mr. Tong Yuet are all successful entrepreneurs we are familiar with. More recently, Mr. Johnny Fong and Mr. John Shen are the winners of the B.C. New–Canadian Entrepreneur Awards of the Ethno Business Council of British Columbia established in 1988.
In the sixties and the seventies more Chinese Canadian immigrants were moving to British Columbia. In 1968 the Hon. David Lam, former Lieutenant-Governor of B.C., who had a very successful career in real estate, founded the Hong Kong Merchants Association of Vancouver to foster the exchange of information about doing business in Canada. Its mandate is to promote multiculturalism and trade.
In 1981 Chinese Canadian–owned businesses in Chinatown joined together to advocate for the right to open for business on Sundays and holidays. Success in their advocacy encouraged them to work together to form the Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Association in the same year. The association has since played the important role of bridging the Chinese Canadian business community and the government. In order to encourage and promote business in the Chinatown area, the association created the Chinatown BIA Society. It has also developed the idea of a Chinatown night market, the first of its kind in North America. This annual summer event provides a new and exciting shopping experience to many local British Columbians as well as tourists, attracting 600,000 to 700,000 visitors a year.
A new wave of Chinese Canadian entrepreneurs arrived in the late eighties and early nineties. Chinese Canadians invested billions of dollars in British Columbia's construction and business sectors. While the rest of Canada was in recession, B.C. registered impressive growth in this period. In 1989 we saw the establishment of Sunbrite Business Association, which has been the organizer of the Sunbrite Lunar New Year Festival, the largest annual Chinese new year festival held outside China. Since 1992 the festival has become a major attraction in Vancouver. Over the past 12 years the event has attracted 1.4 million visitors and generated $6 million worth of direct economic activities. The association saw the hidden business opportunities created by the emerging demography and initiated the business development service program to assist new business immigrants to develop and expand their businesses in British Columbia.
In 1995 the Chinese Entrepreneurs Association of Canada was formed and hosted the fourth World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention in 1997 in Vancouver. Its mission is to promote a national network for Chinese entrepreneurs and to nurture business relations within Canadian business communities while fostering the spirit and skill of entrepreneurs through global business networking. Recently it organized business delegations to China, Macao, Korea and Mexico, promoting business opportunities in B.C. and bringing foreign investment into the province.
New business immigrants may not be able to recognize the business opportunities in B.C. They hesitate to develop their own business in the province because of their lack of Canadian experience. Clearly, there's a need to further bring the Canadian business people and business immigrants together to capitalize on these opportunities. Many business associations were formed to meet this need. They include the Canada China Business Association, the Taiwan Chamber of Commerce in British Columbia and the Richmond Asia Pacific Business Association, which assists individuals and organizations interested in developing trade and commerce focus on developing social and commercial links with the Asia-Pacific region.
The networking opportunities provided by all the above-mentioned business associations have enabled many Chinese Canadian entrepreneurs to become increasingly successful in many different business sectors, including computer hardware and software, electronic product design and manufacturing, biotechnology research and development, pharmaceutical manufacturing, tourism, education, training and clean energy. Their success has, in turn, helped build B.C.'s economy, creating employment and bringing in investment.
Chinese Canadian entrepreneurs are indeed playing an important role in strengthening the economy of our province. I look forward to the debate on this motion.
