Remarks by: Stephen Poloz
President and Chief Executive Officer
Ottawa - September 14, 2011 

Good afternoon and welcome to all our distinguished guests.

It’s a pleasure to speak to you for the first time at our Annual Public Meeting as president of EDC.

The trade environment today is less of a pleasure. We barely began to crawl to recovery in 2010, when we tripped over growing uncertainties as the year progressed.

The volatility is getting worse, not better: We’re seeing slower economic and export growth; severe financial struggles in key industrial markets; growing credit concerns by companies and governments; and greater risk of political upheavals in many emerging markets. The rough patches are only becoming more frequent, or longer.

Against these stresses, EDC must remain financially strong and even more resilient: to help Canadian companies survive and capitalize on this new norm; and to continue providing enduring benefits for all Canadians.

In this context, I will look at our key results in 2010 and what they mean to our  customers; I will also touch on how EDC will help them cope with the new trade environment.

Overall, EDC served more than 8,200 customers in 2010, whose export sales and  investments reached nearly $85 billion, using our services.  This number includes: the value of export receivables we insured; loans to foreign buyers who bought equal amounts in Canadian goods and services; loans to Canadian companies to invest in operations abroad; committed loan amounts that can be drawn in coming years and more.

On the Insurance side: EDC earned $210 million, from over 7,000 clients, for coverage under all our programs.  We helped those clients close more than $70 billion in export contracts--that’s with nearly 70,000 buyers in more than 190 foreign markets. 

In financing activity: EDC earned more than $1 billion in loan revenues and guarantee fees.  This stems largely from more than $13 billion in loans to Canadian clients and their foreign trading partners—and encompasses some 930 new loan contracts in 2010.

Most of these funds were plied back into Canada through foreign firms who bought Canadian supplies. Another large portion went to Canadian companies to invest in operations abroad.  We expect these investments to pay future dividends worth far more than the initial loans.

In spite of the difficult trade environment, loans for investments abroad and related activity were up five per cent from the previous year--they will help clients improve productivity, lower costs and expand their customer base.

Our measure of Canadian direct investment abroad also includes insured contracts of Canadian foreign affiliates.  A recent EDC study shows affiliate sales grew at twice the rate of Canadian exports between 2000 and 2008—a continuing trend that's bringing wealth back home to the parent companies and Canada.

We are also pleased with record business activity in emerging markets by Canadian companies and their trading partners, using our toolkit.  This amounted to some $25 billion in nearly 150 countries.  It represents almost a third of our clients’ total trade volume, as measured by EDC; and a third more than we recorded the previous year.

China, Brazil and India were the most popular markets—they side-stepped the worst of the recession and continue to perform well above industrialized markets. The greatest dividends for Canadians doing business in those markets are still to come!

Our emerging market results demonstrate the impact of EDC’s strong focus and growing representations in those markets. We are creating new trade opportunities—leading new foreign firms to take an interest in Canadian goods and services; and we are helping clients seal more deals—deals which they  could otherwise have missed.

Another key part of EDC’s strategy is our “partnership preferred” approach. Some 80 per cent of our financing transactions in 2010 were done in partnership with other financial institutions. We work closely with private and public-sector banks, insurance companies, sureties, the Business Development Bank of Canada and other export credit agencies.

This partnership approach serves two purposes: it allows the different players to share the risks and strengthens the financial system as a whole, so that the private sector can do more--with or without EDC.

Today, we are making our partnership approach a priority: I have already met with the presidents of the seven largest Canadian banks and BDC.  I plan to ensure EDC goes the extra mile to involve a partner, when one is available.

Corporate Social Responsibility is just as important as our partnership approach. The strong emphasis on CSR is one of biggest changes in the business world in the past decade.  At EDC, it is integral to how we review prospective projects and monitor those we approve.  And we are constantly updating our practices—as trade complexity and civil issues evolve. You’ll hear more soon.

This far into the year, we can’t dwell on the past. As we are all aware, uncertainty is the norm in today’s trade environment. 

EDC— our talented and dedicated team of people—is good and ready:
We have a new vision.  We will be the most knowledgeable, most connected and most committed partner in trade for Canada. 

In other words, we will be even more knowledgeable about the challenges and potential of our customers; even more connected with partners and opportunities our clients may not yet know; and even more committed to providing practical tools to get business done.

We have more Lean practices. We will continue to accelerate our customer response times on critical financial decisions.

We have more expert advice.  Our new Trade Advisory Services is a one-stop-shop for client questions on everything “trade.”  This includes economic, financial, market, environmental, social and political issues; and also steers clients to reliable partner resources.

We have a new strategy.  Our new Corporate Plan will balance the four core dimensions of our business: Business Development; Operations; Risk Management; and Financial Sustainability. We will also be guided by two overarching principles: preference for partnerships and CSR.  And at the foundation is our people, technology and capital.

2010 proved we have powerful foundational mix—thanks most of all to our people—every leader, professional and support-staff member at EDC. We will all continue to do everything in our power to create new trade opportunities for Canada…through the most challenging of times.  Thank you.