Jeb Bush addresses an OCRI event

With over 100 delegates in tow, Florida Governor Jeb Bush touched down in Ottawa Thursday to kickoff a series of meetings between local high-tech companies and those from the sunshine state.

Governor Bush, who is U.S. President George W. Bush's brother, delivered the event's keynote address at the Ottawa Congress Centre before a crowd of 275 onlookers.

"We've been blessed to have a great relationship with Canada," Mr. Bush said, underlining the $5.5-billion investment Canada has made in Florida and praising the 29,000 jobs that have been created in his state as a result of this investment.

"(The investment) is growing at a healthy rate and that's part of the reason we are here," he told the crowd, which included US Ambassador Paul Cellucci, Ontario's Minister of Economic Development and Trade Joseph Cordiano and Minister of Consumer and Business Services Jim Watson.

Before Mr. Bush's delegation arrived in Ottawa, the U.S. Department of Commerce arranged meetings between Floridian business delegates and members of the local high-tech community, the objective being to match up like-minded companies in the hopes of forging long-term partnerships.

"The companies that I've been working with have said ... the quality of the meetings and the people they've met with ... have far outweighed their expectations," said Randy Phillips, international marketing specialist with Enterprise Florida. Earlier in the week, the delegation had similar meetings in Montreal before arriving in Ottawa.

The Tampa-based companies Mr. Phillips has been working with have been "promoting everything from computer, pharmaceuticals, photonics, automotive, security, and packaging machinery".

Regions in Florida that were represented Thursday include those from the state's "high-tech corridor", which stretches from Tampa to Orlando and specializes in such areas as photonics, defence and software. Other areas represented include "the Internet coast", which stretches from Palm Beach to Miami.

Mr. Phillips' wish is that Thursday's round of meetings turn into business opportunities such as sales transactions or joint ventures.

"Whatever works," he said. "But first and foremost, we hope this match-making (effort) is profitable for everyone."

Mr. Bush said there are a few things Florida could learn from Ottawa and other Canadian centres, namely the way in which industries here cluster together by region.

Similar to Ottawa, Florida places emphasis on partnering startups with research facilities in universities, he added.

"We try to link our university research with entrepreneurs that will apply this research in a way that creates jobs."

As for the outsourcing of jobs, Mr. Bush said American businesses "need to look at all the options available".

"Without outsourcing, there wouldn't be a whole lot of in-sourcing," he said.

"Clearly, in both the U.S. and Canada, our goal is to keep jobs and increase employment," added the U.S. Embassy's Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs Thomas Lee Boam.

"We would like to have a highly qualified workforce that does what we do best (in North America): to export the high-quality high-tech products to places like China, Vietnam and India. At the same time, we should let these countries what they do best, which is assembly."

When asked by reporters of the likelihood that his brother would retain the American presidency, Mr. Bush replied:

"I think he has a pretty good chance to win. The economy has gotten strong. It takes a while for Americans at least, historically, there's a lag time before their good feelings about the economy match the economic statistics. Iraq is getting progressively better. More importantly, the character and integrity of my brother shines out, and in times of uncertainty it's important to have someone who has a steady hand, who isn't ambivalent, who's not nuancing everything that walks and breathes."

The event was hosted by the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation.