‘They need what New Brunswick has’: Premier Holt on four-day India trade mission

New Brunswick’s premier is aiming to drum up new economic ties during a trade mission in India.

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt says she’s looking to strike new deals and increase exports during a four-day trade mission to India.

“They need what New Brunswick has, which is minerals, energy products, food, as well as human capacity,” said Holt to reporters in Mumbai on Friday.

“Port Saint John can get a container from Saint John to India in 15 days, so it’s not a problem for us to move the goods that we produce, and some of the products, to one of the largest and fastest growing economies in the world.”

The trade mission, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, is also being attended by several federal cabinet ministers and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe.

New Brunswick exported about $190 million in goods and services to India in 2024. India is New Brunswick’s third largest trade partner, with just over one per cent of exports going to the country. By comparison, over 90 per cent of New Brunswick exports go to the United States.

Opportunities NB has led two trade missions to India in recent months, with the crown-corporation holding physical office space in the country.

Constantine Passaris, the University of New Brunswick’s chair in economics, said there’s more the province should do to position itself as an economic partner with India, especially in the manufacturing of smartphones.

“We have those critical minerals that all developed countries absolutely need in this age of digitization,” says Passaris. “The kind of products that the digital economy requires.”

New Brunswick has 21 of Canada’s 34 critical minerals, which are used to make items from smartphones to toothpaste.

Passaris says the province must strengthen economic ties with other countries amid the U.S. trade war, adding that a country with over 1.4 billion people was a smart place to focus.

“We need a social insurance policy to diversify our economic trading partners and to have some kind of security, in terms that the partners we’re going establish economic bridges with… that they’re going to be there next year and the year after that, and their markets are going to be accepting of New Brunswick exports.”

On Friday, India’s economy was projected to experience economic growth of 7.6 per cent in 2025-26, once again making it the fastest growing major economy in the world.

Neither Premier Holt nor Premier Moe will travel with Prime Minister Carney as the trade mission proceeds to Australia and Japan.

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