It's time British Columbia focused more attention on Latin America _ Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly

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It's time British Columbia focused more attention on Latin
America
by Charlie Smith on March 23rd, 2014 at 5:34 PM
Latincouver's Paola Murillo says Vancouver could become a bridge between Asia and Latin America.
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It's strange times for Canadians who follow events in Latin America.
On Friday (March 21), the Globe and Mail's Latin American correspondent, Stephanie Nolen,
revealed how a Brazilian executive was urging other Brazilian businesspeople to invest in
Canada.
According to her article, the chief financial officer of Vale SA, Luciano Siani, conveyed a
message that Canada was more desirable than the United States. This was based on its lower
national debt, the education of its workforce, and lower corporate taxes.
The next day, the Globe's Jeffrey Simpson wrote a column about how Mexico's president,
Enrique Peña Nieto, decided to cancel an upcoming trip to Canada.
The president wanted to send a message about the Harper government's refusal to remove a

visa requirement for Mexican visitors, which has upset business people and those in the
educational sector.
On the one hand, Canada has reached agreements with seven Latin American countries on free-
trade agreements.
And on the other hand, Canada has come under fire in Brazil for allegedly spying on its mines
ministry to advance Canadian business interests.
Meanwhile, Brazil is reportedly investigating several major railway manufacturers, including a
subsidiary of Montreal-based Bombardier Inc., for alleged price fixing. Bombardier
Transportation issued a statement last week saying it's cooperating with authorities and
insisted that its Brazilian employees have not broken any laws.
It's in the midst of these ups and downs that LatinCouver is planning a two-day conference
called Expoplaza Latina at the end of next month.
It will focus on investment opportunities, corporate social responsibility, mining, startups, and
how small- and medium-size businesses can gain access to this market, which has a population
of approximately 550 million.
Organizer Paola Murillo, head of the Latin American–oriented marketing firm Mirrai
International, recently met me to discuss why she thinks that Vancouverites should be paying
more attention to Latin America.
Part of the reason is the rapid economic growth in recent years.
From 2010 to 2012, Mexico's economy grew by 5.1 percent, four percent, and 3.6 percent, which
was well above the rates of Canada and the United States.
Over the same period, Peru's economy grew by 8.8 percent, 6.9 percent, and 6.3 percent. Other
strong performers were Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Ecuador, Chile, and Bolivia.
Brazil had a phenomenal 7.5 percent growth rate in 2010, but it fell to 2.7 percent and 0.9
percent in the following two years.
In addition, Murillo said that there are easily 100,000 Latin Americans living in the Lower
Mainland, not to mention a million across Canada.
"We do care about Vancouver," Murillo said. "We do care about B.C."
This is evident in the large number of Latin American countries that have consulates in
Vancouver.

B.C. has a minister responsible for Asia Pacific Strategy, Teresa Wat, but there's no provincial
minister responsible for Latin American strategy.
When this was pointed out to Murillo, she said she doesn't want to knock the B.C. government
efforts because it's "trying to learn more" about the region.
She pointed out that Vancouver is ideally located to become the crossover point between Asia
and the western part of Latin America.
Murillo's passion for Latinos came from experience
She left Colombia at the age of 16 to complete her high-school education in Lexington,
Kentucky.
"They called me 'Colombia' for the whole year," Murillo recalled.
At the time, drug lords were causing widespread violence in her country. But she knew there
was so much more to Colombia, but had trouble overcoming people's misunderstandings.
In college, she won an award for a project comparing the stereotypes about Kentucky residents
with the stereotypes about Colombians.
She also volunteered at a Hispanic business centre in Lexington.
Later, Murillo obtained an MBA in international business at Grenoble Ecole de Management in
France. But she never lost her passion for promoting greater awareness of Latin America.
After moving to Vancouver, Murillo created LatinCouver to celebrate Latin American culture
and provide a network of support for professionals who move to Vancouver from that part of
the world.
"We know in Latin America that the plaza is where people connect and help each other," she
said.
Therefore, she wants LatinCouver to act as the plaza for local Latinos, be they from Brazil,
Mexico, Argentina, or any other country in the region.
She admitted that not everyone appreciates the notion of people from different countries
coming under one umbrella, given the long-standing differences in cultures, political
orientations, and language. Brazil, the largest country in South America, is largely Portugese-
speaking.
However, she said that if they don't come together, their voices will be diluted.
"It's more powerful that way," Murillo said. "We have to work together."

GDP statistics reveal economic clout
According to World Bank statistics, Brazil had the seventh-largest economy in the world in 2012
with a gross domestic product of $2.25 trillion.
Canada was listed in 11th place at 1.82 trillion.
Mexico was 14th ($1.12 trillion), Argentina 26th ($475.5 million), Venezuela 29th ($381.3
million), Colombia 30th ($369.6 million), and Chile 36th ($269.9 million).
They all ranked ahead of Israel, the Philippines, Greece, Finland, Pakistan, Portugal, and
Ireland.
Peru was the only other Latin American country in the top 50 with a GDP of $203.8 million.
According to an International Monetary Fund report last year, there is expected to be three
percent growth in the region this year.
Video outling this week's business conference involving Latin America.
Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter @csmithstraight.
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It's time British Columbia focused more attention on Latin America _ Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly