Path Forward – Enabling Trade
Are Indigenous businesses missing out on opportunities to engage in international trade? A panel at IPSS 2023 talked about the results of a recent survey about Indigenous entrepreneurship and exporting, and opportunities for Indigenous-owned SMEs to expand their reach globally.
Arthur Tsai, Brenda Wills, Matthew Foss and Hayley Woodin at the 2023 Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase.
Indigenous-owned businesses are underrepresented in international trade, according to a survey conducted by Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business and Global Affairs Canada. Just more than seven percent of Indigenous SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises) in Canada are involved with exporting goods and services internationally, compared to just more than 12 percent of non-Indigenous SMEs.
These results were discussed at IPSS 2023 by Brenda Wills, Senior Trade Commissioner, High Commission of Canada, Matthew Foss, VP Research & Public Policy, Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, and Arthur Tsai, Head of Market Intelligence, Paper Excellence.
The gap is perhaps not surprising, given many Indigenous communities are remote—which was identified as one of the biggest barriers to exporting. The lack of infrastructure and tele-connectivity, coupled with longer transport distances to market, are among the reasons that Indigenous businesses based in remote communities are significantly less likely to engage in international trade.
The survey of more than 2,600 Indigenous SMEs, conducted in 2021, provided some surprising results. For example, majority women-owned Indigenous businesses account for nearly 40 percent of Indigenous exporters, more than double the number of non-Indigenous women-owned SMEs.
“That is quite a stark finding, but also very supportive of the important role that women play within Indigenous communities,” says Foss.
Foss says that Indigenous businesses have an opportunity to capitalize on the growing interest in products that reflect sustainability and ESG principles.
“When you start to look at investment and financial dollars, and even large purchasers overseas, they're looking for that sustainability. That is the way the world is going, which fits very well with Indigenous cultures.
“Our traditions very much speak to future generations. The land, connection to the land, respect for life, particularly not just human life, but the lives of our plants and our animals and the importance of those things—it's a major selling feature. Not just here in Canada, but around the world where there are people that are looking for that.”
He says he sees this reflected in “some of the partnerships that have gone on with respect to liquified natural gas, that is a big topic here on the West Coast.” Fisheries and forestry are other examples of sectors where sustainable practices are a selling point.
Tsai says that in his experience working in the forestry sector, buyers are “always very eager to learn more about it from the whole supply chain, from where the trees are from, how we harvest it, how we deliver the product to our customers. This is an opportunity for us to really showcase this.”
Wills, who currently serves out of the Trade Commission’s Singapore office, and who has held posts in Chile, Columbia, Mexico, and Washington D.C., says that the Trade Commission is available to work with Indigenous-owned SMEs to explore export opportunities. The Commission has 160 offices worldwide, including regional offices in Canada, and every office has a diversity champion to provide services to companies run by traditionally underrepresented groups. The Commission also provides trade mission support, and through CanExport, provides funding for travel to participate in such missions. She says that more than 70 Indigenous businesses have benefitted from these services.
She notes that other organizations, such as EDC and BDC, are also available to help.
“Canada’s brand abroad is strong,” she says. “We're looked at as a trustworthy partner, credible, polite, respectful. And the things that we produce and sell are high quality. So, the Canada brand is strong, but I think it could be stronger if we build in more of the Indigenous business angle.”