January eNewsletter 2

Dear Members & Friends of the Chamber

As we send this e-newsletter to you many of you will have heard that the UK has paused talks with Canada on a free trade deal with both sides unhappy about the lack of access to agricultural markets.

Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng has contacted UK Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch to express Canada's disappointment. With total goods traded between the two countries worth £19.2bn (2020), according to the UK government, UK imports from Canada £7.3bn and UK exports to Canada £11.8bn, it is to be hoped that the suspension of talks will only be temporary and progress can be made. A spokeswoman for the UK government said to the BBC: "We remain open to restarting talks with Canada in the future to build a stronger trading relationship". Our International Trade Forum will look at arranging events to discuss the implications of this news in the coming months.

This edition our focus is on Member News and an Outlook for the year ahead for Canada and the UK, with articles and news from BMO, CIBC, EDC, National Bank of Canada, Oliver Wyman, PwC, RBC, Scotiabank, and TD.

This month we welcome our newest Charter member Anglo American plc as well as new members Konduit and Privacy Solved.

Oliver Wyman has announced recent findings that more than half of employees globally now use generative AI at work and that adoption is far higher in some countries -see article post. The Oliver Wyman Forum also found that adoption ‘has not necessarily translated into higher levels of productivity – yet - training is not keeping up and we are facing an AI productivity disconnect… Forecasting business impact over the next decade, the report shows generative AI-trained junior employees will climb into management ranks faster than ever before. And senior-level leaders express the greatest levels of concern about losing their jobs to generative AI automation.’ -read more in the link below. We have just held a very informative Tech Forum Cyber Security Update this month sponsored by CGI and OpenText, and will be arranging more tech events especially focusing on the impact of AI.

Our event programme for the next two months is very busy. Coming up in Feb we have: a Trade Secrets & Intellectual Property Workshop online (6 Feb); a Charter member business roundtable with the Hon Lisa Raitt PC at CIBC (8 Feb); a networking evening at Fulham FC with Ebury (13 Feb); our Annual Tax & Financial Planning Event with Trowbridge and Wilson Wealth Advisory at Quebec House (22 Feb); a Charter member breakfast H.E. Ralph Goodale, Canada’s High Commissioner to the UK (Feb 28); and an Energy Summit (13 March) to name just a few – do refer to our website for more details and to register.

We are always on the look-out for bilateral commercial success stories. So if you have any you’d like to bring to our attention, then drop us a line at: info@canada-uk.org

We thank you for your continued support, are here to assist with events ideas, introductions and referrals.

Happy networking.

Izzy, Lisa, Cathrine, Charlie, Wanda & Nigel
Canada-UK Chamber of Commerce

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