Some interesting comments from Paulo Maia, the new chief executive of HSBC Canada in the Wall Street Journal. He recently moved from Australia to Canada.
Maia touts about the resilience of the Canadian economy and financial system but says Australia was much more active on courting investment during the resource boom.
The other thing I notice is the development of (the) resources industry. In Australia, they are further ahead. They were faster in terms of grabbing the opportunities in the market, in terms of exploring the demand for energy, for oil, liquefied natural gas, coming out of emerging markets. There are huge projects under consideration in Canada, but in Australia, they are further ahead in the process of investment and commissioning of the projects in the resource sector.
He sees Canada playing catch-up in the coming years. Canada has outlined some difficult rules for foreign takeovers but Asian companies are now likely exploring partnerships and more creative investments.
