by Jeff Colbourne
Northern News Services

NNSL (Apr 22/98) - Premier Don Morin is in Nuuk, Greenland looking to line up a little business for the NWT.

"What we're trying to do is develop business relationships," Morin said before leaving Yellowknife. "When you do that with other countries, the first thing to do is develop personal relationships with the leaders of that country and in that way business relationships will flow."

Accompanied by 12 private business people and senior government employees, Morin hopes to develop greater economic ties with Greenland by signing a letter of intent to cooperate with Greenland's Premier, Jonathan Motzfeldt.

Greenland is very similar to the NWT in terms of its culture, population and industry.

The total population is 53,000 people. Approximately 45,000 are Inuit and 8,000 are Danes. Fishing is Greenland's principal livelihood, with fish exports accounting for 85 per cent of the country's total export of goods.

There is no mining or extraction of resources currently going on in Greenland but some prospecting is under way for such minerals as chromium and gold.

Tourism is expanding in Greenland as well. The Greenland Home Rule is now working towards a target of 60,000 tourists annually over the next 10 years. Outfitters organize hunting and fishing expeditions, dog-sled rides, summer skiing and guided round trips.

This is the second trip by a territorial delegation in recent months to seek out opportunities for NWT businesses in the Circumpolar region.

Last month, Housing Minister Goo Arlooktoo signed a deal with the Russian government to build public housing in a small Russian village. Premier Morin sees close parallels with Greenland.

"This trip here to Greenland is a very important trip for our government because similar to Russia, Greenland has similar conditions to the NWT. And as you know, we've developed certain building technology, as well as infrastructure technology in building highways, building houses and schools."

The NWT business delegates hope to land a number of joint venture agreements and contracts on the trip. They would also like to learn more about the technological advancements Greenland is making with power generation.

"We've developed partnerships over the past 30 years with our private sector and we are one of the furthest advanced in the circumpolar countries in our building technology and how we do business in the North."

The delegation left on Monday for the two hour flight from Iqaluit to Nuuk.