MARCH 1997 Edition
JAPAN
Canada's second‑largest trading partner is offering an
increasingly favourable business climate: Japan's yen is still relatively high‑valued,
its consumers are becoming increasingly value conscious, it has a large pool of
available capital and technologies and, not least, the Japanese business
community is keen to develop partnerships with Canadian firms. In 1995, two‑way
trade between Canada and Japan surpassed $24 billion, and exports alone increased
by 24 per cent to $12 billion. Japan is also Canada's third most important
source of foreign direct investment, valued at $12.5 billion in March 1996, and
the second‑largest portfolio investor, valued at $43.5 billion in March 1996.
ADVERTISING
Global spending on advertising rose 7.8 per cent last
year to $292 billion. That includes spending on advertisements in newspapers
and magazines, on television and radio, and in cinemas. In the U.S.,
advertising got a boost from the Atlanta Olympics and the presidential
election. Many European television channels do not rely on advertising. As a
result, TV accounts for only 30 per cent of Europe's advertising spending
compared with around 40 per cent for North America and Asia. Latin America
devoted the biggest slice of its GDP to advertising, 1.3 per cent which is
expected to grow by 13.4 per cent during the next three years.
MARINE SECTOR
Canada's marine sector is a significant employer. In the
first half of 1996, organizations engaged in water transport or incidental
service industries, such as marine cargo handlers, shipping agents and marine
pilots employed 29,800 people, up 2.1% from 1995. These industries paid almost
$650 million in wages and salaries in the first six months of 1996, according
to the Survey of Employment, Payroll and Hours. This, however, does not
represent the total employment in marine activity, as some firms in industries
such as petroleum and forest products transport or handle their own products
via marine transport. Vancouver was still Canada's busiest port, handling 35.1
million tonnes of freight, more than three times that handled by the port of
Saint John.
AUTO SALES
Canada's automakers plan to make their dealers' used car
operations more consumer friendly to counter a competitive threat from U.S.
used-car superstores. Among the strategies under consideration are separate
brand names for used-car operations, offering warranties and limited money-back
guarantees, and putting sales staff on salary instead of commission. The U.S.
superstores feature as many as 1,000 vehicles on huge lots and emphasize
haggle-free shopping. None have announced plans to enter Canada yet but industry
experts feel it is only a matter of time.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
A Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi was established in August
1996. The United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) represents an import market of $30
billion per year. Canada has less than 1 per cent of this market, and its goal
is to increase its exports to the U.A.E. from $200 million to $300 million over
the next three years. Opportunities abound in all sectors, especially oil and
gas, building materials, construction, agriculture, telecommunications and
information technology, defence and transportation. The office may be reached
at: Tel: (971) 4‑521717, Fax: (971) 4‑517722.
CELL PHONES
Drivers whose attention is distracted while talking on a
cellular phone have a four times as high a risk of having an accident. A
University of Toronto study of crashes by 699 cars equipped with cell phones
found the number of accidents that happened during or just after a conversation
was more than four times higher than would be expected in normal driving with younger
drivers more prone than older ones and the accidents were more likely to happen
at high speed. One Quebec insurance company is now adding a surcharge of $60 a
year on premiums for cars equipped with cell phones. About seven million
cellular calls are made each day in Canada and the average call lasts less than
three minutes.
DRUGS
New drugs and strong domestic sales gave most American
drug companies double‑digit profit growth in 1996, galloping past the corporate
average. The tighter rein on drug costs that the huge managed‑care companies
were expected to bring didn't happen. Drug prices rose 5% last year and sales
volume also increased.
CLOSINGS
The U.S. based K-Mart chain has closed its last store and
left Southeast Asia two years after it introduced U.S.-style discount retailing
to Singapore.
After five years in Russia, ice cream maker Ben &
Jerry's is pulling out claiming legal, tax and management problems that plague
many Western investors.
PANAMA
The Government of Panama, which assumes overall control
of the Panama Canal in 1999, is seeking financial and technical input to update
1993 studies that were conducted to determine what should be done to take newer
ships that are too large to cross the existing canal. Canadian companies,
particularly those with engineering or technical skills, are being asked if
they are interested in participating in these studies and if they would be
interested in bidding on eventual tender calls for the upgrade of the canal.
The cost of updating the studies is estimated at US$20 million, of which the
European Union has agreed to contribute approximately 50 per cent. The hope is
that other main canal users, including Canada, will contribute toward these
costs. Only firms located in the contributing countries will be eligible for
contracts related to the completion of the studies. The 1993 studies,
considered two options: a third set of locks or a new (sea level) canal.
Information may be obtained by
contacting C. Boies of
Foreign Affairs at: e‑mail: celine.boies@extott12.x400.gc.ca
PART-TIME
Nearly 50 per cent of Canadian companies now employ
part-time workers, up from 41 per cent in 1994 and 35 per cent in 1989.
Part-timers now make up 29 per cent of the average firm's total workforce, more
than triple the 1989 level.
STARS
Analysts at Velo, a British company, ran checks on 50,000
drivers it has on its books and discovered a relationship between the zodiac
and numbers of car crashes and repair bills. Self-controlled Scorpios were
found to be the safest drivers. Nervous Virgos are more likely to crash and
when they do the results cost a fortune to repair. Clumsy Taureans had the
highest frequency of accident claims. Gentle and patient Aquarians have
relatively fewer accidents but when they do, it's a big one. Sagittarians are
almost as good as Scorpios and Pisceans have the least costly crashes.
Britain's best known Virgo driver is Damon Hill, Formula One's world racing
driving champion.
UNIONS
A Wal-Mart store in Windsor, Ontario has made history by
becoming the first store in the U.S. retailers history to be unionized. The
company has successfully fought off every attempt to unionize since it was
founded in 1962. Wal-Mart is the world's largest retailer with roughly 3,000
stores worldwide. The Ontario Labour Relations Board certified a union at the
Windsor store even though workers voted 151 to 43 against the union saying that
Wal-Mart executives from Wal-Mart Canada subtly threatened workers who
supported the drive by United Steelworkers. Workers at Wal-Mart have now signed
a petition seeking a new certification vote.
PAPER
If China ever consumes as much paper per capita as its
neighbour, South Korea, another 500 paper mills will have to be built worldwide
to meet their needs. There are only 500 paper machines in the entire U.S.
FASHION
Candy Man is a new line of nail polish aimed at men. The
company has seven shades including: Dog (purple), Oedipus (forest green),
Testosterone (steel gun), Libido (teal) and Gigolo (black).
TRAINING
Canadian companies are making training a bigger priority
according to the Conference Board of Canada as more businesses realize that the
best competitive tactic is to invest in a work force that is highly skilled and
competent. Companies in the transportation, communications, public utilities
and oil and gas sectors have consistently been the biggest investors in
training and development (T&D). But a survey of 200 large Canadian
companies shows a big jump in T&D spending in finance, insurance, real
estate and service fields.
FORESTRY
More than 80 of the world's environmental groups lined up
beside the U.S. timber industry at the United Nations to oppose a Canadian-led
plan for a global treaty to manage the world's forests. Opponents say the
proposal is premature and that not enough research has been done. Canada is
supported by the European Union, Finland, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Canada has 10 per cent of the world's forest land
covering 1.6 million square miles, or 45 per cent of Canada's total land base.
Forest-product exports total $25 billion annually, ($11 billion of which are
from B.C.), or around $70 million a day. The forest sector employs 880,000, a
full seven percent of Canada's total labour force.
KIDS
According to B.C. Statistics, kids are working more and
studying more than their counterparts 20 years ago. Only nine percent of 15- to
19 year olds in 1995 were neither working nor going to school full-time,
compared to 14 per cent in 1976. Among 20- to 24-year olds the trend is the
same, falling to 21 per cent of the population in 1995 from 25 per cent in
1976. Data shows that about half of the latter group are "officially
unemployed" (not working but looking for work), but no one knows what the
other 11 per cent are up to.
2000
It has been estimated that it will cost US$1.10 per line
of computer code to fix the Year 2000 problem, (expected when software
programmed with a two-digit numbering system read the date 01/01/00 as January
1, 1900.) It is also calculated that there are 225 billion lines of code to be
corrected worldwide at a cost of US$300 billion and that 10 per cent of
companies affected will go out of business if they don't fix the problem in
time.
TIME
The Wall Street Journal reports that today's average
consumer, more often than not a woman, takes just 21 minutes to do her
shopping--from the moment she slams her car door in a supermarket parking lot
to the moment she climbs back in with her purchases.
SMUGGLING
Canadian customs officials seized at least three
shipments last year of the controversial growth hormone for cattle that is
prohibited in Canada, promoting concern about the drug slipping across the
border and into the milk supply. Individuals attempted to bring in 200 to 300
syringes filled with bovine growth hormone which increases milk production. It
has been allowed in the U.S. for three years but is still awaiting licensing by
Canadian Health and Welfare.
ETHICS
A psychiatrist in Wisconsin is facing a malpractice suit
after he convinced a woman she had 120 personalities and then charged her
$300,000 for group therapy.
A lawyer in Australia charged a woman $26.00 for opening
and reading a Christmas card she sent him and a further $26.00 for a
"telephone attendance" when he called to thank her for the card.
Posts
