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It's time British Columbia focused more attention on LatinAmericaby Charlie Smith on March 23rd, 2014 at 5:34 PM

Latincouver's Paola Murillo says Vancouver could become a bridge between Asia and Latin America.

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It's strange times for Canadians who follow events in Latin America.

On Friday (March 21), the Globe and Mail's Latin American correspondent, Stephanie Nolen,revealed how a Brazilian executive was urging other Brazilian businesspeople to invest inCanada.

According to her article, the chief financial officer of Vale SA, Luciano Siani, conveyed amessage that Canada was more desirable than the United States. This was based on its lowernational debt, the education of its workforce, and lower corporate taxes.

The next day, the Globe's Jeffrey Simpson wrote a column about how Mexico's president,Enrique Peña Nieto, decided to cancel an upcoming trip to Canada.

The president wanted to send a message about the Harper government's refusal to remove a

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visa requirement for Mexican visitors, which has upset business people and those in theeducational sector.

On the one hand, Canada has reached agreements with seven Latin American countries on free-trade agreements.

And on the other hand, Canada has come under fire in Brazil for allegedly spying on its minesministry to advance Canadian business interests.

Meanwhile, Brazil is reportedly investigating several major railway manufacturers, including asubsidiary of Montreal-based Bombardier Inc., for alleged price fixing. BombardierTransportation issued a statement last week saying it's cooperating with authorities andinsisted that its Brazilian employees have not broken any laws.

It's in the midst of these ups and downs that LatinCouver is planning a two-day conferencecalled Expoplaza Latina at the end of next month.

It will focus on investment opportunities, corporate social responsibility, mining, startups, andhow small- and medium-size businesses can gain access to this market, which has a populationof approximately 550 million.

Organizer Paola Murillo, head of the Latin American–oriented marketing firm MirraiInternational, recently met me to discuss why she thinks that Vancouverites should be payingmore attention to Latin America.

Part of the reason is the rapid economic growth in recent years.

From 2010 to 2012, Mexico's economy grew by 5.1 percent, four percent, and 3.6 percent, whichwas well above the rates of Canada and the United States.

Over the same period, Peru's economy grew by 8.8 percent, 6.9 percent, and 6.3 percent. Otherstrong performers were Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Ecuador, Chile, and Bolivia.

Brazil had a phenomenal 7.5 percent growth rate in 2010, but it fell to 2.7 percent and 0.9percent in the following two years.

In addition, Murillo said that there are easily 100,000 Latin Americans living in the LowerMainland, not to mention a million across Canada.

"We do care about Vancouver," Murillo said. "We do care about B.C."

This is evident in the large number of Latin American countries that have consulates inVancouver.

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B.C. has a minister responsible for Asia Pacific Strategy, Teresa Wat, but there's no provincialminister responsible for Latin American strategy.

When this was pointed out to Murillo, she said she doesn't want to knock the B.C. governmentefforts because it's "trying to learn more" about the region.

She pointed out that Vancouver is ideally located to become the crossover point between Asiaand the western part of Latin America.

Murillo's passion for Latinos came from experience

She left Colombia at the age of 16 to complete her high-school education in Lexington,Kentucky.

"They called me 'Colombia' for the whole year," Murillo recalled.

At the time, drug lords were causing widespread violence in her country. But she knew therewas so much more to Colombia, but had trouble overcoming people's misunderstandings.

In college, she won an award for a project comparing the stereotypes about Kentucky residentswith the stereotypes about Colombians.

She also volunteered at a Hispanic business centre in Lexington.

Later, Murillo obtained an MBA in international business at Grenoble Ecole de Management inFrance. But she never lost her passion for promoting greater awareness of Latin America.

After moving to Vancouver, Murillo created LatinCouver to celebrate Latin American cultureand provide a network of support for professionals who move to Vancouver from that part ofthe world.

"We know in Latin America that the plaza is where people connect and help each other," shesaid.

Therefore, she wants LatinCouver to act as the plaza for local Latinos, be they from Brazil,Mexico, Argentina, or any other country in the region.

She admitted that not everyone appreciates the notion of people from different countriescoming under one umbrella, given the long-standing differences in cultures, politicalorientations, and language. Brazil, the largest country in South America, is largely Portugese-speaking.

However, she said that if they don't come together, their voices will be diluted.

"It's more powerful that way," Murillo said. "We have to work together."

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GDP statistics reveal economic clout

According to World Bank statistics, Brazil had the seventh-largest economy in the world in 2012with a gross domestic product of $2.25 trillion.

Canada was listed in 11th place at 1.82 trillion.

Mexico was 14th ($1.12 trillion), Argentina 26th ($475.5 million), Venezuela 29th ($381.3million), Colombia 30th ($369.6 million), and Chile 36th ($269.9 million).

They all ranked ahead of Israel, the Philippines, Greece, Finland, Pakistan, Portugal, andIreland.

Peru was the only other Latin American country in the top 50 with a GDP of $203.8 million.

According to an International Monetary Fund report last year, there is expected to be threepercent growth in the region this year.

Video outling this week's business conference involving Latin America.

Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter @csmithstraight.

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