Premier promoting B.C. tech in Japan

British Columbia Premier Christy Clark is talking up the province’s technology sector while on a business trip in Japan.

According to the Government of British Columbia, they are working to form new partnerships with Japanese investors and technology companies.

On Monday, leading Japanese businesses and investors attended a B.C. government technology investment seminar in Tokyo to hear presentations from four B.C. tech companies including D-Wave Systems, H+ Technology, Press Reader and Vanedge Capital.

“On this mission, we are embarking on a new chapter in our trade relationship with Japan, showing major Japanese investors and technology companies what B.C. has to offer,” Clark said in a news release. “Our province is home to world-class innovators and technology companies – combine that with our proximity to Asia, competitive business environment and multicultural society, and there is no limit to what B.C. and Japanese companies can achieve by working together.”

Clark also participated in the 2016 Canadian-Japanese Scientific and Cultural Exchange meeting on Quantum Computing via Quantum Annealing, hosted by B.C.-based D-Wave.

The two-day meeting, which was partly sponsored by the Province of British Columbia and the Embassy of Canada in Japan, gathered about 60 Japanese government members, business leaders and educators to bring quantum computing and D-Wave in the limelight.

“British Columbia has a healthy tech start up ecosystem that has flourished in the last few years,” D-Wave president and CEO Vern Brownell said in a prepared release.

“It’s what has helped D-Wave grow from the brainchild of a University of British Columbia graduate student into one of the most innovative companies in the world. In Japan, we are sharing our vision for the future of quantum computing and encouraging B.C.-Japanese collaboration to propel this industry forward.”

British Columbia’s technology companies, most recently Greenlight Innovation, have secured new deals and partnerships in Japan.

Besides that, a Japanese company signed memberships at UBC’s Composite Research Network for future research and collaboration.

At the seminar, Clark encouraged the Japanese investors and companies to attend the 2017 BC Tech Summit, with hopes of getting companies here in the province face-to-face with investors and trading partners in Japan.

With about 9,000 companies working in technology in B.C., the sector employs more than 86,000 people. In 2013 alone, it generated $23.3 billion in revenue.