Friday, October 8, 2010

Obama and Hillary in German Parade

Hang on tight, Hill.

Marie-Lucie goes to Washington

Ottawa, October 8, 2010
2010-094

MINISTER OF FINANCE ANNOUNCES CANADA’S NEW WORLD BANK EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today announced the election of Marie-Lucie Morin as Executive Director of the World Bank representing Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean.

“The World Bank is a critically important institution for promoting financial stability and reducing poverty across the globe,” said Minister Flaherty. “I am confident that Ms. Morin will serve Canada well in her important role at this institution.”

Currently National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister and Associate Secretary to the Cabinet, Ms. Morin has extensive experience within the Government of Canada, including as Deputy Minister of International Trade and Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. She has also held several senior diplomatic positions, including Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway and to the Republic of Iceland. Ms. Morin succeeds current World Bank Executive Director for Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean, Mr. Samy Watson, whose term ends on October 31, 2010. Mr. Flaherty thanked Mr. Watson for his service over the past four years.

The World Bank, along with the International Monetary Fund, was founded at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 to encourage a more stable global economy, and is based in Washington, DC. The World Bank’s goal is to reduce global poverty by raising living standards and promoting sustainable development in developing countries. It does this by providing a wide range of assistance to developing countries, including economic policy advice, technical assistance and long-term financial assistance.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Glad I'm Retired (2)

Status Report on the Global Value Chain (GVC) Initiative

Key elements of the Department’s Global Value Chain (GVC) Initiative have been merged with the Global Business Opportunities Bureau (BBD). This transition strengthens implementation of the Integrative Trade Model (ITM) by providing greater coherence to the departmental sector-based practice approach.
This is an opportune realignment, now that the GVC initiative has become operational and targets GVC oriented sectors aligned with the five knowledge-based sector practices: Aerospace, Cleantech, ICT, Infrastructure and Life Sciences.
Much has been accomplished already by putting in place one of the cornerstones of our Global Commerce Strategy, including:

- blah, blah
- and so on

Our goal now is to build on the research already undertaken and to help operationalize abroad much of what we have learned so far.