This week, the Province of Manitoba announced it is undertaking a new economic development direction. Premier Brian Pallister spoke about what it means.

"We will create a modern economic development strategy for Manitobans. That will help make us the most improved province in Canada. We will have a smarter and more focused strategy which means re-examining the role of government and having more private sector capital in play."

The announcement comes after a report the province commissioned on the economic development strategies of Manitoba came back. The report lays the framework for a new way of going about economic development in Manitoba. Pallister mentioned some of the things that have already been put in place to draw new investments into the province.

"Too many priorities mean not enough attention is paid to areas where we can really make a difference. Our goal is to pave the way to better economic performance around the province. We have made significant progress. Reducing red tape, getting spending under control and lowering taxes, measures like this have helped us attract major new investments such as those around the Roquette project and the Simplot project in just the recent months."

Pallister indicated the full re-work of the economic development program will be unveiled sometime in May or June.