Through our close relationship with the Canadian Embassy in Korea, we’ve acted as the primary lead generator in a series of Asia-focused FDI programmes to boost the economic fortunes of Canada.
Our initial remit was to support a promotional seminar and investment matchmaking mission in Seoul, organised by Global Affairs Canada - the economic development arm of the Canadian government - and The Consider Canada City Alliance (CCCA), which promotes trade and investment for the country’s 12 largest cities. The City of Summerside on Prince Edward Island also took part.
It was a tough project because of the diverse interests of the participating cities and varying levels of awareness of the Canadian regions in Korea. Meetings for well-known cities like Toronto and Vancouver were oversubscribed, while it was much harder to secure interest in the lesser-known places.
Ahead of the mission, our team spent time with the Canadian Embassy and municipal agencies to understand each of their value propositions and agree result targets. Based on this, we generated a list of several hundred potential investors across diverse sectors - then, through calls and meetings, identified a shortlist of qualified companies to invite to the seminar and meetings.
As a result, we secured 75 seminar attendees and arranged more than 100 meetings - twice the agreed target - despite poor weather on the day. Five of our team attended to oversee the logistics, translate and provide commercial guidance.
Based on the success of this initiatives, we were then selected by Global Affairs Canada and the CCCA as the primary lead generator for a subsequent Investment Roadshow in Japan - encompassing three seminars and a series of meetings in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka.
This initiative had its own challenges. Whilst it was relatively easy to secure attendance in Tokyo and Osaka, it was much more difficult to identify suitable prospects in Fukuoka. In all, we researched 4,200 contacts and approached more than 2,000. We secured the attendance of 169 company executives at the seminars and set up 118 meetings.
The highest profile result from all these initiatives was the introduction of Samsung Renewable Energy to the City of Summerside on Prince Edward Island.
This has resulted in the announcement of a $68 million, 65,000-panel solar farm in the city, in which Samsung will invest $3 million worth of its renewable energy batteries. It’s a flagship project designed to push the city’s proportion of green electricity beyond 60% and to generate $7 million in economic benefits.
Summerside’s Director of Economic Development, Mike Thususka, said: “Intralink did an excellent job to ensure my colleagues wasted no time during the event and were able to sit down with qualified decision-makers who had been properly briefed on our value proposition. As it turned out, our meeting with Samsung was absolutely key.”