Commonwealth Greater Birmingham
Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce Contact: Jamila Davis T: 0845 6036650
British businesses ‘should look to Canada for help’
A Canadian financial expert says the old Commonwealth country could provide Birmingham firms with the answer to their Brexit woes. Mark Entwistle, managing director Privus
Capital Inc, a Canadian boutique merchant bank based in Toronto, said that the country could solve a number of Brexit related issues – and even make the problem disappear altogether. First, he said, the country could help keep the
door to preferential access to the European Union open via its Canada-EU free trade and investment deal (CETA), and secondly, could provide access to the all-important USA marketplace, without the need for long-winded trade discussions between the UK and the Americans. Both these solutions would require a UK-
based firm to establish some sort of presence in Canada, said Mr Entwistle, but this could be done in a variety of ways. He said: “After having watched intently the
Brexit saga unfold, it is clear to the principals at Privus Capital that Brexit is a process, not an event.
“Business uncertainty will continue even after
a specific Brexit event. UK companies have faced strong headwinds caused by political decisions, which may well not abate for some time since the embers of the political fire will not be extinguished overnight. “The management and boards of all
companies, large and small, public and private, have been working to meet their duty of fiduciary care and to mitigate Brexit risk specifically. “As history has often shown, challenging
circumstances can open new doors of opportunity, even ones that would have been previously unthinkable. One such door could involve Canada. “Canada could provide a unique hedge
against persistent Brexit-related risk for those Birmingham companies, both manufacturers and professional service providers, which are particularly vulnerable to or dependent on revenues from business in the European Union. “This is made possible via the Canada-EU free
trade and investment deal (known as CETA). By using Canada as a new platform for a strategic expansion and establishing a presence in Canada in an appropriate way that could range from acquisition to investment to strategic partnership with a Canadian peer company, one could retain that preferential access to the EU market.
‘After having watched intently the Brexit saga unfold, it is clear to the principals at Privus Capital that Brexit is a process, not an event’
“Such a strategic pivot, perhaps a once-in-a-
lifetime decision for a company, would open simultaneously yet another bonus door – preferential access for Birmingham businesses to the huge United States market (plus Mexico) via the modernised North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and to leading Pacific Rim economies, including Australia, Japan and others via the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), to which Canada adheres. “This is a readily available global network of privileged access to economies that together represent almost two-thirds of the world’s GDP. “Perhaps a return to the transatlantic
connection with Canada can safeguard the European bond.”
Commonwealth Chamber Patron
Get rid of those B-word woes: Mark Privus
December 2019/January 2020 CHAMBERLINK 45
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