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Gregory Freeman

Gregory Freeman

Senior Economist at Invest Vancouver focused on regional economic development and foreign direct investment in Metro Vancouver.

Jun 24, 2026

35:59
So I do think there's more that we can do also to demonstrate that we know how to do business when we're looking for investment internationally.
36:08
Gregory.
36:09
Your specific question, I want to add on to what Tamara was saying, because your question was what do we tell those Indian firms? What do we have to offer here? Well, we surveyed the multinationals in our region last fall, and when we talked to executives there about why had they chosen us, how is it going, one of the two things that really stood out from that was the first one was they said that it's going really well.
36:34
that they had grown in size since they had landed, whether they'd been here for two years or ten, that on average the firm had increased their headcount in the region by 274 percent, and the median size of the firm had gone from 30 at market entry to 100 at the time of the survey.
36:53
And so what we're seeing is that these firms are landing here, and it's working for them.
36:58
One of the reasons you've heard is, you know, it's because we've got an amazing place with that entrepreneurial spirit.
37:04
You've got these talented young people, and not just young people, but you know, these highly educated workforce, and it's a stable and wonderful place to open and operate a business.

26 MINS LATER

63:34
And so we've got to get all these different levels of going pulling in the same direction, so that we can attract the investment so that there's certainty because one level of government withholding a permit, or deciding to apply certain regulations that it dreams up, can can really have a negative impact on how we're viewed as a place to invest in and build a business.

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