Patrick Leblond

Holder of the CN – Paul M. Tellier Chair in Business and Public Policy at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa1

Simultaneously with these meetings, the federal government announced several economic measures totaling about $1 billion aimed at implementing Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy unveiled by Minister Joly on Sunday.

A large part of this funding is focused on infrastructure projects in the region and is aimed at facilitating and promoting the export of natural resources and agricultural and agricultural products.

Such an approach is very good and takes into account Canada’s (‘natural’) economic advantages. However, it ignores an entire part of Canada’s economy, just like that of the Indo-Pacific region: the digital economy. According to some recent studies, the Indo-Pacific region is considered to be the most dynamic in the world when it comes to digital commerce.

For many Canadian businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses, digital commerce could be one of the best ways to do business across the Pacific Rim.

Finally, digitization enables companies to increase the scale and geographic reach of their business. It also reduces trading costs and makes supply chain customization easier.

To achieve this, it is therefore important that Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy includes a strong focus on digital trade, following the example of the United States, which has placed the digital economy at the center of its Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity upon their accession Canada recently requested.

As Canada is a rather marginal player in global digital trade – behind the United States, Japan, China, Korea and even Australia – there is a need to adopt a strategy and measures that will enable Canadian companies to strengthen their trade relations with the Indo-Confederations expand -Pacific region, and also with the rest of the world.

The development of digital commerce with the Indo-Pacific region will not be possible without the development and implementation of a digital commerce strategy for Canada as a whole.

Such a strategy is based on three pillars:

• reliable and inclusive access to high-quality digital infrastructure at internationally competitive prices;
• Increasing digital skills through the adoption of proven and advanced digital technologies, particularly for SMEs, and developing digital skills among Canadian workers, managers and entrepreneurs;
• the dismantling or even elimination of non-tariff barriers to international digital trade, in particular through international agreements.

As part of the third pillar of a digital trade strategy, Canada is already very active in digital trade governance in the Indo-Pacific region. In the spring, he specifically asked to join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (founded by Chile, New Zealand and Singapore) alongside China and Korea. At the same time, Canada became a founding member of the Global Forum on Cross-Border Privacy Rules, launched by the United States as part of its own Indo-Pacific strategy, which aims to abolish such APEC rules (to shield them from them). direct Chinese influence). Finally, Canada is a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which includes a chapter on digital commerce.

Since the discussions on these agreements mainly involve countries from the Indo-Pacific region, it therefore seems logical that Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy aims to strengthen “collaboration on standards and regulations for the benefit of Canada, the Indo-Pacific region and rules-based trade”.

While participating in digital trade deals is important to support the economic portion of Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy, it is not enough. Canada also needs to focus on two other strategic pillars of digital trade policy. To do this, it is imperative that Canada adopts a clear and coherent digital commerce strategy that requires close collaboration between governments (federal and provincial) and business.