Here in Canada and Alberta, the United States is, and will remain, our economic bread and butter when it comes to our exports.

But it's a big world out there, so we are always interested in other customers, suppliers, and economic partners.

Not that long ago, the big story in Asia was Japan (which is still the world's third largest economy).

We switched gears a few years back and got excited about China. And rightly so: it went from a global economic afterthought to the world's second largest economy in under 20 years.

China, Japan and a lot of other places remain important, but it looks like it’s India's turn to step into the global economic limelight.

India either has passed, or is about to pass, China to become the world’s most populated country.

India’s economic output has also been growing. According to the World Bank, India had the 13th largest economy in the world in 2000. As of 2021, it was the 5th largest and is forecast to rise to third place by the end of the decade.

So how are we doing when it comes to our exports into this large and growing market? Simply put, we have lots of room to grow.

As of 2021, India was Canada's 14th largest customer, representing 0.5% of our total international merchandise exports that year. India was Alberta's 26th largest customer, representing just 0.1% of provincial exports.

Encouragingly, Canada and India are in negotiations that will hopefully lead to a substantive free trade agreement between the two countries.

Answer to the previous trivia question: With a total area of 3.3 million square kilometres India is the seventh largest country in the world. Canada is second at just under 10 million square kilometres.

Today’s trivia question: In what year were the Alberta portion and the Saskatchewan portion of Lloydminster amalgamated into a single cross-border municipality?