nice picture of mrs bond meeting with the chinese delegation,
where are the Chinese people/
COULD BE TAKEN IN VANCOUVER?

lol, you need a lesson in global finance! If you think the Chinese went from chiken and rice farming and making pot metal in their backyards to the world's largest economy all by themselves you are seriously mistaken! Like us, they depend on foreign investment, demand and expertise as well as a business-friendly environment to drive their economy. But BC is not business-friendly, therefore our economy suffers.

In Vancouver the water glasses would have water in them. The tea/coffee has already been served.

The lady at the end of the table to the right is Chinese, but may be part of the Canadian delegation or an interpreter or both ...

They didn't leave any room for the chinese people!!

Photo courtesy of BC Govt...wonder what that cost the taxpayers.

Wonder if we could get a trade mission that would focus on manufactured goods export? Or will we always be hewers of wood and carriers of water?
Cheers

Didn't realize 2x4's grow in the forest. Please tell me where to find them. I'm tired of paying for them after the sawmill is done with them.

Gus. I suspect that the Lady at the right at the end of the table is Japanese, and is from Vancouver and part of the Canadian (BC) delegation. I beleive that she was here in Prince George sometime last year, and was referred to as Chinese by a number of locals.

Most of our local business types thought she was Chinese and couldnt speak english so they didnt talk to her. Finally she advised one chap that she was Japanese Canadian, was part of the Canadian (BC) delegation, and they then began to talk to her.

We shouldnt (but we do) jump to conclusions.

There are a number of things that will take place in the next few years that will have a profound effect on Pacific Coast Ports.

1. The Chinese exports to Canadian, American customers has levelled off and they expect that it will shrink in the coming years.

2. There are new and upgraded US and Mexican Container Terminals being completed on the Pacific Coast as we speak.

3. US Railways are improving their service from West Coast Ports to the US Midwest and East Coast.

4. The Panama Canal expansion should be completed in 2014. This will allow post panamex Container Ships to use the Panama Canal and deliver containers directly to Eastern US Ports. This will have a substaintial effect on the number of containers being shipped to Pacific Ports.

Stop sending our resources to China. It's much more profitable to sell a finished product. We are losing jobs by the thousand every time a trade mission goes over there.

Palopu ... you may be right about the nationality.

The interesting thing is that we have a very close friend from Japan who has been here for 3 years. She tells us that she has a hard time to distinguish Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans from each other based on visual clues alone.

Okay Palopu, since you know so much about transportation do you know what the capacity of the canal is in the number of ships going through and whether that capacity has been achieved in the past?

Quick look tells me that a 20% capacity increase is projected. Does not seem to me that such an increase will have a major effect on shipping routes. It will likely increase competition both by sea and by land. Possibly even air.

I predict the Asians will all want our resources, rather than worthless Treasury bills in the coming years... then we will all eventually be suffering from the money printing press and the big surge in resource buying will dry up. Some will then credit it to politics.

Gus. At the present time Container ships through the Panama Canal are restricted to

965ft in length
110ft Width
39ft Depth

After the expansion in 2014 restrictions are;

1200ft length
160ft Width
50ft Depth.

The maximum payload on a container ship through Panama at present is 5000 TEU'S
(Twenty Foot Equivelant) Containers.

After the expansion in 2014 the Post Panamax Containers ships will be able to handle 12000 TEU'S per ship. This is a huge increase of 7000 TEU'S per ship, and you can rest assured that it will have a huge effect on container business on the West Coast. In fact that is one of the main reasons that they expanded the Canal.