Asian food for thought

Last week, former community services minister Ida Chong was promoted to become the Campbell administration's technology, trade and economic development minister. But her new responsibility for the government's Asia-Pacific Initiative is also newsworthy. The reason: the Liberals have been allocating significant resources toward that intiative since it was rolled out in April, 2007. For example, in October, the government announced its intention to solicit proposal to plan and design an Asia Pacific Business Centre. It has also retained or is retaining contractors to represent the province's trade and investment interests in India and Korea. And the government recently closed a competition to hire a new assistant deputy minister to lead economic development's Asia Pacific division.