(Ottawa) – September 16, 2014
Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME), in partnership with Export Development Canada (EDC), today announced the launch of the Enterprise Canada Network, a website that connects Canadian companies to international partners seeking matching products and services.
The new website is geared towards the needs of small– to medium–sized companies, whose main challenges are the time to develop opportunities and not knowing where to look for them.
"Canadian SMEs possess some of the most promising technologies in the world, yet not nearly enough of them are able to find global partners to catapult such technologies into marketable products and services,” said CME's President and CEO Jayson Myers.
ECN will allow SMEs and researchers in Canada to search for a business or technology partner amongst more than 30,000 opportunity profiles posted through the European Commission's Enterprise Europe Network.
"Europe is banking on growth among their SME community in a big way as a means to help affect economic growth,” said Peter Hall, Chief Economist for EDC. “ECN fits perfectly into this trend and shines a spotlight on where Canadian companies can actually find global opportunities."
ECN also provides users with several convenient tools that allow them to easily find all publicly funded trade support and promotion programs from across Canada.
Both CME and EDC agree there is a need to better support and promote Canada's SMEs to strategically capitalize on major trade agreements with the European Union and South Korea.
“Very simply, we all need to do a better job of giving small Canadian companies the right tools to grow their businesses internationally,” said Benoit Daignault, President and CEO of EDC. “The ECN is a good example of real–world value for Canadian companies, a relevant tool that will help them find buyers and opportunities suited to their specific interests and abilities.”
CME and EDC are working in tandem with other organizations who share a similar vision of helping Canadian SMEs go global, including the Trade Commissioner Service, WBE Canada, Biotech Canada, ReMAP, Mitacs and Emily Carr University of Art + Design.
The Enterprise Canada Network can be accessed online.
ExportWise.ca article about ECN: If we build it … SMEs will come.
Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) is Canada’s largest trade and industry association, and the voice of manufacturing and global business in Canada. The association represents more than 10,000 leading companies nationwide. More than 85 per cent of CME’s members are small and medium–sized enterprises. As Canada’s leading business network, CME – through various initiatives, such the establishment of the Canadian Manufacturing Coalition – touches more than 100,000 companies from coast to coast, engaged in manufacturing, global business and service–related industries. CME’s membership network accounts for an estimated 82 per cent of Canadian manufacturing production and 90 per cent of all exports.
