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The capital
is Vancouver. British Columbia is the Canadian
gateway to Asia. With a surface of 947,000 square
kilometers and a population of 3,700,000
inhabitants (of which 1,900,000 were persons
economically active in 1995), it earns 22.8 billion
$Can. for exports and spends18.2 billion $Can.on
imports (of which France's part is $170 million for
exports and $258 million for imports).
In 1995 there was a growth rate of 2.7% with 2%
inflation and 9.4% unemployment.
The natural
resource of this province is lumber (56% of the
total surface), this sector is expanding due to a
growing market for wood products with added value
on the North American and Asian markets, especially
in the production of wooden high technology
products, prefabricated homes, special panels and
paper.
The principal markets are the United States, Japan
and the European Union.
Tourism is
the second big economic sector in the province, it
brought in 6.4 billion dollars in 1994. More and
more visitors are attracted to this destination. In
1994 more than a million tourists from abroad were
recorded. This is 15% more than in 1993. British
Columbia has a very well developed infrastructure
for tourists with holiday centres and big cruise
lines. There are holiday resorts open all the year
round.
One of the
most promising sectors is high technology
(aerospace and submarines, computer science
industries linked to telecommunications) and more
precisely, information technology (it ranks 5th
among the industries in British Columbia with
regard to its growth rate and its size).
Environmental technologies, with a growth rate of
10% a year, bring in more than 4 billion dollars.
Aerospace and submarine industries employ 35,000
people in
4,500 companies. Biotechnology works better than in
the USA due to lower taxes on the work
force.
In British
Columbia it is possible to create partnerships and
make research and technological exchanges with
universities and research institutes. It is to be
noted that research institutes as well as major
international companies concerned with the
detection and the treatment of cancer are
established in the province.
There is also
a considerable growth in the market of industrial
automation, wireless communications, satellites and
micro-waves, computers used for health, educational
and entertainment software.
Another
important economic sector is the mining
exploitation (97% of Canadian exports), of which
the principal metals extracted are copper, gold and
zinc. And the most important : coal, petrol and
natural gas.
British
Columbia is the third biggest producer of
hydroelectricity. It has great competitive
advantages (such as a really efficient transport
system for merchandise in bulk), with research
capacities associated to metallurgy and the design
of highly technical equipment. Also a
potential in the production of industrial minerals
such as ceramic minerals or refractory minerals,
etc.
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