Cross Border trade. Bi-national investment. Fears about the loss of funding for environmental protection.
Those are just some of the topics you’ll hear about this week as the Great Lakes Economic Forum comes to Detroit and Windsor for the first time, April 24 through the 26h. Many of the events will be held at Detroit’s Cobo Hall.
Hundreds of key players from government, business and academia in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Region will gather to discuss an area that’s home to 107 million people and supplies 46 million jobs – an estimated 30 percent of the combined U.S. and Canadian workforce.
The Great Lakes: Third Largest Economy in the World
President and CEO of the Council on the Great Lakes Region, Mark Fisher tells Great Lakes Now,
Mark Fisher, President and CEO Great Lakes Region, courtesy of councilgreatlakesregion.org
“When you look at the economic region – you know it’s a 5.8 trillion dollar economy, and that’s in U.S. dollars. If you looked at that in terms of countries, that would be the third largest economy in the world in terms of GDP and economic activity behind the United States and China. So you put those 8 states and 2 provinces together, and it’s an incredibly important economy not only to the world but to the future success of both the United States and Canada. “
Fisher says many people don’t have a full appreciation for the scope and size of the economy of the Great Lakes Region. He says, “It’s roughly responsible for 50 percent of the total value of trade that goes back and forth between the United States and Canada on any given day and any given year. So it’s very much at the center of the future success and prosperity of both countries. “
Keynote Speaker Mick Mulvaney, Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget called back to Washington
Some of the high profile experts and keynote speakers: Navdeep Bains, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development; Mary Taylor, Lt. Governor of Ohio; and Former Governor of Michigan and former U.S. Ambassador to Canada, James Blanchard. Mick Mulvaney, Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget was scheduled to address the economic forum on Tuesday, April 25th, but was called back to Washington D.C. to take part in President Trump’s budget proposal talks.
Fisher says the conference is a way to get people to think about “not only how important this region is, but all the things we could be doing better together to really harness and leverage the economic strengths we have in this region to be more globally competitive.”
DPTV’s Great Lakes Bureau greatlakesnow.org will be bringing you coverage of the conference throughout the day on Tuesday, April 25th from Cobo Hall.
For more information about the conference, go to greatlakeseconomicforum.com
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