APEC Travel Scheme -- a Signal to Canadian Business

October 28, 2008

More Asia Does Not Mean Less North America was the title of my op-ed for the Globe and Mail’s special series on Canada in the World in April, 2008.  I argued at the time that Canada should position itself as a unique entry point for Asian business in North America.  Geography, demography and international politics are in our favour, but we need a change in our mental maps so that Canadian businesses are as likely to look to Asia for growth as they are to look at the United States.

We have a terrific opportunity to change mental maps with Canada’s recent membership in the APEC Business Travel Card Scheme (ABTC).  This “trusted traveller” program allows cardholders in the 20 member economies of APEC (Russia is the sole exception) to have preferential treatment for visas (including full waivers) and immigration clearance.  Ottawa signed up in early 2008 but has yet to determine the eligibility criteria for Canadian cardholders.  In an Asia Pacific Bulletin released this week, the Foundation proposes making the ABTC a subset of the established NEXUS program for travel between Canada and the United States.  The idea is to offer NEXUS applicants the opportunity to also be eligible for ABTC, subject perhaps only to a demonstrated need for business-related travel.  The logic is simple: Canadian businesspeople who have a need for frequent and hassle-free travel to the US should also have a need for business travel to Asian economies.  Even if they are not currently doing business with Asian counterparts, the current parlous state of the US economy suggests that they should be looking at opportunities in other parts of the world such as Asia.  By giving business travellers the option of an ABTC as a NEXUS “add-on,” Ottawa will in effect be signalling that our commercial interests are much wider than just the US.  Indeed, a successful business strategy in the US may be dependent on a parallel business strategy in Asia, for example through outsourcing, offshoring and two-way investment.  We believe ABTC should be made available not just to Canadian business travellers who are seasoned Asia-hands, but also to the vast majority of our business community that have not hitherto considered Asia in their corporate strategies.

Since the US is a key member of APEC and of the ABTC scheme, any Canadian participation in a trusted traveller program will have to deal with the overriding question of how it will be received by US authorities.  Rather than create a parallel set of eligibility criteria for ABTC that may or may not be acceptable to the Americans, it would be administratively and politically simpler to piggyback onto NEXUS.  That having such an option might encourage our business community to more seriously consider opportunities in Asia is a rich bonus.  More Asia does not mean less North America.