The Asia Pacific Gateway: Now More than Ever

June 19, 2009

Canada’s west coast ports got a boost from Trade Minister Stockwell Day last week with the announcement of an advertising campaign to promote the Asia Pacific Gateway to potential customers in the US, Japan, South Korea, and China. Using the slogan “… everything gets there sooner than you think,” the ads tout the advantages of western Canada as a transportation hub for goods and passengers to access North American markets.

Ironically, this campaign comes on the heels of a report by The Globe and Mail that the Port of Long Beach has asked the US government to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization that Canadian ports have received government subsidies that create an uneven playing field. Industry sources suggest that the Globe did not get the story quite right – no formal complaint has been filed and the Port of Long Beach apparently has no intention of filing such action. The story came about because top port officials from Long Beach were in Washington, D.C. recently to lobby officials and to talk to the national media about ports. The key point here is that they were using Canadian ports as an example of the competitive threat posed to US jobs and were calling for the US government to make similar investments in the context of a national strategy.

Imitation may be the best form of flattery, but Canadians have good reason to be wary about US attention, especially when it comes to potential trade actions or industry support. US ports no doubt are hoping to capture a generous share of the Obama stimulus package. They have good reason to be hopeful, since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) specifically names port authorities as eligible grant recipients.

There is nothing Canada can do to stop the Americans from investing in their port and transportation infrastructure. But Ottawa’s Asia Pacific Gateway and Corridors Initiative and related investments by the Government of British Columbia have given Canada a head start, and both levels of government should not now scale back on the vision of making Canada’s west coast the preferred Asia Pacific gateway for North America. Even at a time when trans-Pacific freight and passenger volumes are down because of the global recession, it is critical to complete the planned investments, and to begin planning for a second, more ambitious phase of the Asia Pacific Gateway.

The next phase must go beyond hard infrastructure to deal with a range of governance, labour, and efficiency issues that continue to be a drag on the competitiveness of west coast ports. In particular, Vancouver must shake its reputation of being perennially vulnerable to strikes (a reputation shared by US west coast ports). And much greater emphasis must be placed on air services – putting the priority on the economic benefits generated by thriving Canadian airports and by the flows of people across the Pacific, rather than on the need to protect legacy carriers.

Finally, the next phase of the Asia Pacific Gateway should focus not just on what passes through the portal, but on what takes place within and around a gateway. The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada has long advocated the concept of a gateway economy, in which the flow of goods and people through well functioning seaports and airports generates economic activity and wealth that goes well beyond the operation of those facilities. Hence, the gateway economy is about fostering secondary industries, attracting head office activity, building commercial clusters around the gateway, and creating an environment which captures the experience, skills and networks of the people coming through our ports, rather than simply facilitating their passage to other destinations.

Now more than ever, the Asia Pacific Gateway needs an ambitious, long-term vision that is no less profound and far-reaching than the tectonic shifts that are putting Asia at the centre of the world economy.