MONTREAL — Quebec is hosting an economic and commercial mission from the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) this week, in which several dozen companies from here and elsewhere are taking part.
The launch of the mission took place Tuesday in Montreal in the presence of the Secretary General of the OIF, Louise Mushikiwabo, as well as the ministers responsible for the Francophonie in Quebec and New Brunswick, Martine Biron and Glen Savoie.
Planned activities include exchanges between business people and company visits in the Quebec metropolis and in Quebec City.
Nearly 80 international companies from the French-speaking world and more than a hundred companies from Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario, among others, will take part in this economic mission which is the fifth of the OIF since 2022.
The companies that were selected work in the agri-food, renewable energy and digital sectors.
The OIF explains that the mission aims to “identify intra-French-speaking commercial and investment opportunities in Montreal and Quebec.”
“The idea is to get to know each other better in order to make more partnerships because the Francophonie is a vast market,” said Ms. Biron at a press conference.
“More and more, in a changing geopolitics, we want to do business with friends. Obviously, it’s still easier to be able to work with people in the same language.”
She indicated that the Francophonie is a potential market of 1.2 billion people and represents more than 20% of global trade in goods as well as 16% of global wealth.
New Brunswick has a delegation of around ten people who will look at “building strong links with (its) partners,” mentioned Mr. Savoie. He affirmed that his province is currently facing a significant challenge of labor shortage.
This mission constitutes the first step towards the Francophonie Summit which will take place in October 2024, in Villers-Cotterêts and Paris.
