TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canada’s Natural Resources Minister, Joe Oliver, on Monday courted the South Korean business community in Vancouver, saying exports to South Korea, located in one of the fastest-growing regions of the world, were an important contributor to the country’s prosperity.
Oliver said government was “aggressively” pursuing agreements with countries in the Asia-Pacific region that would permit Canadian businesses to compete internationally.
The Minister reinforced the importance of the shared benefits for Canada and South Korea in increasing trade and market diversification.
Oliver reiterated that the federal government, under the Conservative leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, had made it a priority to enhance international relationships to increase opportunities for Canada’s natural resource sectors, including exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) to South Korea, the world’s second-largest importer of LNG.
Oliver said that, as Canada became a significant source of LNG, the expanding economies of Asia become obvious markets.
“Today, South Korea is Canada’s seventh-largest trading partner, with two-way trade of more than $10-billion. We are strengthening our bilateral strategic relationship to encourage trade, investment and technological innovation in the natural resource sectors,” he noted.
TSX-V-listed Woulfe Mining was working on building the Sangdong tungsten mine, in South Korea.