In recent years, the U.S. economy has been slowly making a comeback. New opportunities are emerging in industries such as biotechnology and alternative energy.
America is not alone in its ability to capture new markets. Due to an influx in population growth—which climbed past 32.5 million as of March 2006—Canadian business also is growing. The population boom, in part, is creating a surge in Internet usage; Canada is seeing exceptional growth in online sales. As of 2004, the private sector’s online sales increased nearly 50 percent to US$26.4 billion, according to the Statistics Canada report. These figures only represent 1 percent of the private sector’s operating revenues—giving Canadian e-commerce plenty of room to grow.
The report also shows that the most profitable industries in Canada in recent years have been banking, oil, and gas extraction and utilities. Canada’s banking and insurance companies alone accounted for more than one-quarter of total corporate profits.
As North American economies grow and change, the Cisco® Internet Business Solutions Group is there to help companies pick the right technologies and business processes for their emerging markets.
