From left to right: Ginette Chenard, Quebec’s senior government representative in Atlanta; Louise Fortin, director of the trade division and trade attachés Virginia Rand-Hill and Yoann Turquetil

The new alliance between the Southeast and seven central and eastern provinces in Canada is an extension of Quebec’s commitment to forge closer economic ties with the region since the late1970s, according to Ginette Chenard, Quebec’s senior government representative based in Atlanta.

The commercial alliance was signed on Nov. 16 in Montreal following a two-day conference co-chaired by Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and Jean Charest, the premier of Quebec.

“Quebec has been involved in the economic growth of the Southeast for a long time,” Ms. Chenard told GlobalAtlanta during lunch at Hsu’s restaurant near the province’s offices downtown in the 191 Peachtree Tower building.

“It is the most dynamic region in the United States. Every region says, ‘We are the best and brightest.’ But this is where the opportunities are greatest, and we are here and the other provinces are not.”

Ms. Chenard can back up her claims of the province’s commitment to the region by citing the opening of its first office in Atlanta in 1978. Quebec had more than a dozen political, trade and cultural officials working here until the late 1980s.

Due to a budget crisis at home, the Quebec government cut back the number of staff here. But it has been rebuilding its presence here and currently has a total staff of six including Louise Fortin, director of the trade division and trade attachés Virginia Rand-Hill and Yoann Turquetil, who all have years of experience in the region.

“We want to promote Quebec companies,” Ms. Chenard added. “The alliance will make a big difference for small- to medium-sized companies.”

She pointed to Quebec’s aerospace sector, which includes the global transportation company Bombardier Inc., manufacturer of aircraft and business jets as well as rail transportation equipment.

“Bombardier doesn’t need an office in the Southeast because it already has such an important international presence, but the small companies do,” she said, adding that Quebec has a large number of smaller companies serving the aerospace industry.

Trade already is extensive between the two regions, she said, and has been expanding since 2002, primarily involving aluminum, pulp and paper, and aeronautics sectors for Canadian exports, and the automobile and parts, aluminum, telephone apparatus and pharmaceutical sectors for Canadian imports.

But there are many other opportunities, she said, especially for smaller and medium-sized companies that would benefit from exploring southeastern markets including Quebec’s “green building” construction, bioscience, fashion and attraction and amusement park companies.

She also said that tourism would benefit. “Quebecers come down every day,” but Georgians may now become more aware of events such as the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City that will be celebrated with a large number of festivities next year.