Alumni of B.C. post-secondary institutions living abroad have been invited by Premier Gordon Campbell to become Ambassadors for British Columbia, helping to further strengthen ties with emerging overseas markets.

Premier Campbell launched the BC Alumni Ambassador Network on November 30 at an event in Hong Kong hosted by the University of British Columbia. Through the network, BC Alumni Ambassadors will have opportunities to connect with Premier Campbell, other members of government, and each other.

"There are a large number of B.C.-educated people living and working overseas who can serve as ambassadors of everything British Columbia, Canada's Pacific Gateway, has to offer, helping us to forge lasting and sophisticated economic, cultural and social relationships around the globe," said Campbell. "We want to reach out to those alumni, reconnect them with B.C. and foster a long-term connection that benefits all of
us."

The BC Alumni Ambassador Network connects B.C. grads living in Asia with information on all that British Columbia has to offer as a place to live, invest and do business. Already hundreds of alumni have responded to the Premier's message and have asked how they can help do their part to promote British Columbia as a preferred destination in Asia.

B.C. alumni were contacted in partnership with British Columbia's public post-secondary institutions in September and directed to a web site, www.bcalumni.ca, where they could register as a BC Alumni Ambassador. They can also join the BC Alumni group on Facebook(c), with more social networking sites planned in the coming weeks. BC Alumni Ambassadors
Network is initially focused on the Asia Pacific but may expand to other countries in the future.

More visits and messages to BC Alumni Ambassadors are being planned for Asia and around the world in the coming months.