The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 29 North American and European countries. The organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty (signed on 4 April 1949) and constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the global total with defence procurements exceeding $6B annually across NATO member countries.
While some Canadian companies have experienced successful contract wins in the NATO market, historically Canadian businesses represented a very low market penetration rate in comparison to other NATO member nations.
The primary purpose of this mission is to deepen relationships and market penetration opportunities with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) procurement divisions including the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) and NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) and other adjacent market or partnership opportunities that may exist for Atlantic Canadian companies in these target countries.
Through this initiative ACADA aims to create opportunities for export growth for Atlantic Canadian businesses within the NATO procurement environment by providing relevant market exposure and engagement opportunities for our members, including;
- Building awareness with respect to the types of goods/services NATO procures;
- Educating industry members on the process, best practices and challenges when engaging with NATO procurement;
- Promoting Atlantic industry capabilities within the NATO procurement divisions;
- Developing relationships and connections between ACADA members, NATO procurement representatives and other key partners (i.e. Trade Commissioner Service, Chambers of Commerce, other prime/sub suppliers to NATO).
