What is CanCham’s mandate in South China?
Cameron Turnbull: Canadian Chamber of Commerce Pearl River Delta (CanCham PRD) is a networking and resource sharing platforms for the Canadian Business Community in the PRD.
Our Mission Statement:
We support the Canadian business community stakeholders in the PRD.
The Canadian Business Community includes:
- Canadian Entrepreneurs
- Canadian Companies
- Canadian affiliated Entrepreneurs/Companies
- Canadian Professionals living and working in PRD
- Alumni of Canadian Universities
- Chinese companies interested in doing business in/with Canada
We expect to advance our mission via the following functions:
- Unify the Canadian professional and entrepreneur community by providing a platform for intelligent discussion and information sharing, both online and offline.
- Strengthen social and business networks by organizing various events.
- Generate new business activity by providing logistical support for Canadian business delegations.
- Support Canadian entrepreneurs by providing advice and direct assistance to companies as needed.
How is CanCham South China funded?
Cameron: The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in South China is funded by membership fees and income from events and services. Membership fees are as follows:
- 8 – 12 Founding Members at 30,000 rmb per member per year
- Unlimited Company Members at 5000 rmb per member per year
Is CanCham South China “for profit” and what is its revenue model?
Cameron: CanCham Pearl River Delta is a social enterprise, a legal for profit private business entity with a clearly defined mission statement. The organization uses commercial strategies to maximize social impact and advance a mission, in this case advancing Canadian business interests in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong Province.
CanCham PRD generates revenue via the functions pointed out above, with profits being re-invested into the organization’s activities, instead of being distributed to shareholders, further expanding the size and scope of the social impact.
How does CanCham South China’s “Chamber 2.0” business operational model differs from the more “traditional” chamber of commerce models in China?
Cameron: Chamber 2.0 is an approach. While developing CanCham South China in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), we are making a conscious decision to question and re-evaluate the traditional Chamber model. We identified a couple of areas where we think we can improve the traditional model.
We are Grassroots:
CanCham PRD started as an informal social group of Canadians living in and around Guangzhou. It owes its existence to the work of dedicated volunteers and the grassroots support of the Canadian business community. We are here to serve and support our members and are dedicated to maintaining a real personal connection with the professionals and entrepreneurs who inspired us.
We are Lean:
From day 1, we have kept our overhead costs as low as possible by taking on the mentality of a start-up. We are agile and focused only on value added activities.
We are Innovative:
CanCham PRD has a unique opportunity to redefine the idea of a foreign Chamber of Commerce and create something that is fresh, modern and responsive to the needs of members in today’s business world.
How does the operational model of smaller chambers of commerce differ from that of larger chambers?
Cameron: Smaller Chambers need to play to their strengths and not try to take on the strategies and initiatives of larger chambers.
A smaller chamber like CanCham PRD can be extremely effective at the ground level. We make it a point to work directly with our entrepreneur members to find out what they need and tailor our services to those needs. The Organic growth that we have enjoyed has led to a sense of community among our members that is genuine and leads to real business relationships.
Smaller Chambers should also try to set up their funding in a way that takes the pressure off of membership sales We have chosen to concentrate on a very small number of key Founding Members, these are companies that can make multi-year commitment of a large amount of funding. At the same time, we keep our overhead costs extremely low and concentrate on high quality in execution.
Being small, we also have to make sure we establish a healthy working relationship with the Canadian government and different Canadian trade organizations with whom we share common interests (ie: Export Development Canada, Canadian Trade Development, Invest Canada etc.) We want to play to our strengths and position ourselves as their on the ground partner.
Being small means we can experiment with different revenue streams such as logistical support for visiting delegations.
What is unique about the business environment in the South China region for chambers of commerce as well as other business associations?
Cameron: South China is a region with a long history of international trade and exporters. It has mature infrastructure for manufacturing and exports, established clusters of manufacturing expertise in textiles, plastics and consumer electronics.
However, these traditional industries have already given way to more advanced manufacturing such as robotics and product design. For example, Shenzhen has a start up ecosystem that is unique.
Greater Bay Area (GBA) regional integration is going to change international commerce for good.