Destination New York: business people from Quebec and New York State are taking the future in hand with a new trade corridor. (Global View).

After years of discussions, the business communities of the Province of Quebec and New York State have established a trade and business development agreement. The Quebec-New York trade corridor agreement will encompass transportation, tourism, energy, telecommunications and general economic development initiatives.

The Quebec Chamber of Commerce and the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce were responsible for drafting the agreement. Both private organizations represent numerous partners directly involved in trade between Quebec arid New York State.

The vice-president and director of the Quebec Chamber of Commerce, Serge Audet, explains that the idea of the project was originally conceived in the U.S. They had been negotiating with the Montreal Chamber of Commerce for about three years. The results of a study commissioned by the Montreal Chamber last year demonstrated the need for such a corridor. Its conclusions suggested a broader, province-wide project was necessary to create an effective trade corridor, which led to the involvement of the Quebec Chamber of Commerce. The Montreal Chamber's study rounded out the information that the U.S. body had compiled over the last three years and laid the groundwork for tangible action.

The president of the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce, Garry Douglas, notes that a number of factors led his organization to consider the possibility of setting up such a corridor. Most significant was the growth of business relations between the two zones, indicating the emergence of a binational trade region. "People were using new ways of trading, doing business all along the region the corridor now covers," notes Douglas. The results of this new trend were very positive, and when the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce realized that a new economic territory was taking shape, it recognized the importance of studying it and fostering its growth.

New York State is Quebec's leading international trade partner. Trade between the two now totals some $14 billion annually, a 300% increase since 1990. About 45% of the trucks traveling between Quebec and the United States go through the Lacolle border crossing.

Companies in Quebec and New York State have long been trading with each other, but Audet notes that even though the markets exist, they are not strategically developed. He gave as an example the fact that Quebec City and Albany became sister cities just under 10 years ago. "Almost nobody knows about it and nothing has resulted from this relationship," notes Audet. That's the kind of project he'd like to revive, and he doesn't want it to be just social. Audet wants it to involve the promotion of trade and industry in both regions and the development of a regional economy, while at the same time breaking down linguistic and legislative barriers. Audet thinks that, thanks to the corridor, trade efforts will now be better harmonized and organized.

"These are two natural markets, and Quebec is the only province sharing a border with the United States that didn't have an economic development corridor," Audet points out. That was rectified in December 2001 when the Quebec-New York Corridor agreement was signed.

He points out that neither chamber intends to reinvent the wheel. As a result of the events of September 11th, Americans and Canadians have to focus more of their efforts on pooling their business strategies. One of the topics discussed at a summit meeting in May between the two groups included the consequences of that unfortunate day and the economic strategies that have since emerged.

Economic summits will be one tool used as part of the corridor. The first of these was held in May and was convened in both English and French. "The Americans understood one thing: if they want to do business in Quebec, it has to be bilingual," says Audet. There is a clear understanding that everything has to be in both French and English, including the corridor's Web site. The economic development strategy has been established with this in mind.

Business Communities

What makes this economic development corridor project so unusual is that it is led and managed by business people rather than government agencies. The chair and management will be assumed by the Quebec and Plattsburgh-North Country chambers of commerce. Both will be responsible for implementing the necessary structures and seeing to the financial and human resources as well as general operations and management of corridor programs. A coordinating council will be formed to support the initiative.

Naturally, at certain levels, the government of Quebec is a partner. Through consultation, cooperation, mutual support and commitment, the trade corridor seeks to bring together private and public participants. "It is difficult to do economic development without involving government at some point," notes Audet. The summit featured the participation of the Premier of Quebec, Bernard Landry, and the Governor of New York State, George E. Pataki. Nevertheless, Audet insists that it is the business community that is leading this project.

The offices that will manage the corridor are 60% funded by the private sector, including partners from sector-based associations including the transportation sector, such as the Port of Montreal, Aeroports de Montreal, the Societe pour la promotion de I'industrie ferroviaire and the Quebec Trucking Association. The money will help both chambers of commerce adopt a streamlined structure. "We don't want to get involved in major spending, and the operating budget will be about $200,000 per year," notes Audet.

Of course, customs concerns are a critical issue. "It is an area that must be reviewed and discussed because we want to conduct this project using a business approach, rather than a security or political one," points out Audet. In his view, both chambers of commerce would like to facilitate and improve the flow of people and goods. Because they want to encourage general economic development, the corridor partners will concentrate their efforts on one issue they consider a very high priority at this time, the Champlain-Lacolle border station, which they intend to make a "top-notch gateway" -- a modern, flexible, customer-oriented border crossing. The strategic importance of this entry point was recognized by both governments, along with the necessity of working jointly on its improvement as quickly as possible. The summit brought together public and private groups to define the issues, needs and actions that will make it possible to ensure the fluidity of trade on both sides of the border.

The Premier and the Governor agree on the necessity of ensuring optimum security throughout the continent while maintaining the smooth flow of goods and people. From this perspective, they both support the creation of a North American security perimeter.

"It is of vital importance to discuss such fundamental issues as trade and security with our friends in Quebec," declared Governor Pataki at an earlier press conference. Moreover, Landry and Pataki have agreed that there should be greater cooperation between the Quebec Department of Public Security and the New York State Office of Public Security.

Quebec and New York State want to begin work on important infrastructure projects soon, with the financial participation of both federal governments, to restore the fluidity and security of transportation in the main trade corridor. The governor and premier agreed earlier to increase cooperation between the Quebec Department of Transport and the New York State Department of Transportation in five specific areas: renovation of the entries to the Lacolle-Champlain border station, harmonization of road signs on both sides of the border, introduction of coordinated projects for the development of intelligent transportation systems, particularly for traffic control and management, the promotion of the transportation and trade corridor along the Route 15/I-87 axis, and the development of close cooperation with the federal border agencies in both countries.

Accordingly, in late 2001, the Quebec Minister of Transport, Guy Chevrette, accompanied by the New York State Transportation Commissioner, Joseph H. Boardman, announced an overall investment project of 575 million, to develop the economic potential of the trade corridor along Highway 15 and Interstate 87 in harmony with U.S. projects estimated to be worth more than US $35 million. "The awareness campaign with the people in the department of transport was successful, and it was another consequence of our agreement with the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce," Audet says.

Commercial partners

This is the first agreement Quebec has signed to promote and facilitate trade, partnerships and access to the immense Northeastern U.S. market.

"Trade corridors constitute a new form of partnership between business communities that seek an efficient solution to the challenges posed by the rapid development of the immense NAFTA market," Audet explains. The scope and diversity of their staff and their representation throughout North America gives the chambers of commerce the credibility and resources necessary to rally business people and develop new partnerships in the major trade corridors within NAFTA. There are now approximately 20 trade corridor agreements within NAFTA. Their emergence reflects a new reality: the formation of binational economic regions, and sometimes trinational, including Mexico.

The Premier and the Governor also set up an agreement on procurement contracts that has been in force since the end of 2001. It allows companies in Quebec and New York State access to contracts from both governments. "The agreement will stimulate economic cooperation and trade on both sides of the border," Landry indicated.

Audet thinks that for business people, the main advantage of such a trade corridor lies in the fact that it is not a government project. "It is business people talking with business people from a business perspective, not a political one," he explains. Audet believes that when politicians take hold of projects like this and want to become involved in discussions and theories, the commitments are quick to appear but results take much longer. He insists that when business people take charge of this process, discuss trade issues with each other and clearly convey what they want and what they expect from government, action is inevitably faster.

The permanent committee of the Quebec Chamber of Commerce will depend a great deal on the volunteer involvement of business people. About 20 are expected to sit on this committee. The same number is expected to be on the U.S. counterpart.

The Council will have an equal number of delegates from Quebec and New York and will be responsible for identifying the objectives and priorities for the corridor. It will also provide the leadership required to guarantee that activities are successful. "Besides the transportation and economic development committees, the coordinating council wants to create other committees or task forces, both permanent and ad hoc," Douglas explains. He points out that the corridor will hold a symposium every year to assess and update the priorities, plans and strategies of the organization and pursue the promotion and establishment of partnerships throughout its binational territory.

No one can predict what the long-term results of this agreement will be or when they will materialize, but one thing is clear: all participants have high expectations.

Julie Demers ([e-mail]) is associate French editor of CMA Management magazine.