Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 25/02) - Big contracts were celebrated by Nunavut entrepreneurs last week but the Northwest Territories didn't share the same success during a trade mission that covered Russia and Germany.

"They are not a market where we can break into very easily even if we could do anything better than they could," said Northwest Territories Premier Stephen Kakfwi, referring to the German marketplace.

"They don't seem to welcome forays into their market," said Kakfwi. The Germans did seem to be interested in Northern tourism, he said.

Northern businesspeople took part in a Team Canada trade mission that covered Russia and Germany. The tour was led by the prime minister, the NWT premier and Nunavut's Premier Paul Okalik.

Kakfwi got a much different impression in Russia though. He compared the two marketplaces, pointing to many similarities like the lack of infrastructure.

"Russians like to do business with Canadians," he said.

While in Russia, Yellowknife's Canada North Projects Ltd. signed a deal worth $250,000 a year with Russian Petrospekt of St. Petersburg. It will be providing technology for the manufacturing of wood frame-structured building components.

Nunavut businesses had success in Germany. Two of the contracts signed had Germans enjoying Northern foods and arctic art.

Brian Schindel led Kivalliq Foods Inc., a Rankin Inlet meat shop owned by the Nunavut Development Corp., to a deal where arctic char could be distributed throughout Germany and to other German-speaking countries.

Photographer Hans Blohm also signed a contract for distribution of his book The Voice of the Natives: From the Canadian North to Alaska.