By Elliott Knopp

Saskatchewan leads Canada in export growth

Jan 12, 2021 | 4:13 PM

The Government of Saskatchewan announced the province’s exports have increased despite challenges presented by COVID-19.

Throughout 2020, Canada’s exports suffered a 13 per cent decline while Saskatchewan received a 3.3 per cent increase. In November alone, the province’s export sales jumped up 12.6 per cent from the same period in 2019. That increase was the highest among all provinces and nearly double the growth of the next highest province.

Minister of Export and Trade Development Jeremy Harrison said the announcement is an indication of the strength of the province’s export industries, adding the agriculture industry has led the charge during the economic rise.

“What it shows is that the world needs what we have right here in Saskatchewan,” Harrison said in an interview with meadowlakeNOW. “It’s a testament to their resilience and to the folks that work in those industries, but agriculture has really been driving the increase over the course of the last year as far as exports.”

Harrison noted a significant increase in forestry exports as well, stating the importance of the industry in the economy of northwest Saskatchewan and the remainder of the province. He added the news is a big positive for the industry that has historically faced challenges.

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Another factor playing into the province’s success is its international business relationships, more specifically, its business with India. Harrison claimed exports into India shot up nearly 50 per cent throughout the year. He stated developing growth into that market was a strong focus.

“As trade minister, that was the last international mission I undertook prior to the shutdown of international travel, and we continue to work closely and be in close touch with our partners in India. We are very glad to see an increase into the Japanese market as well, which is another area we put significant focus as far as growing our exports and building new markets in the Asian Pacific,” he said.

Harrison stated the government is building three new international offices to further develop international exports. He explained nearly 70 per cent of the products produced in the province are exported.

“We are hopeful that we are going to get to $30 billion in exports over the course of an entire year. A big part of our growth plan and our growth strategy going forward is to increase doubling our exports over the next period of time. That means we are going to be putting a really significant focus on international engagement,” he said.

Harrison believes the strong performance over the last year will be one of the key factors in leading a strong economic recovery.

“Even though the global economy has had a massive impact because of COVID-19, it shows that we are very well positioned as a province going forward through an economic recovery by providing what the world needs. We produce it all here, and we are as a government, are going to continue to focus on growing export markets, diversifying our export market and also adding value to those products here in Saskatchewan. It’s all a part of the equation and something we have been going to continue to be very committed to.”

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Elliott.Knopp@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @ElliottKnopp