More than 260 business and political leaders will converge Sunday on Savannah for a three-day summit kicking off an economic initiative between six Southeastern states and seven Canadian provinces.

Georgia hopes that the new initiative, dubbed the Southeastern United States-Canadian Provinces Alliance, will strengthen an already close relationship with its top export partner.

"Our goal is for Georgia to be recognized as the gateway to the Americas," said Ken Stewart, commissioner of Georgia's Department of Economic Development. "It puts us in a position to be recognized as a government and business leader in the United States."

The alliance, formalized in a charter signed Nov. 16, is modeled on a similar relationship between the Southeast and Japan, launched in 1976 by former Georgia Gov. George Busbee. Since then, Japan has become the No. 1 foreign investor in Georgia, with investments totaling $5.7 billion in 2006.

The seven Canadian provinces participating in the conference — Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island — make up almost the entire eastern half of the country. In addition to Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama have signed on.

The alliance will meet every year, alternating between a Canadian province and a U.S. state, and the annual conferences will feature networking opportunities and panel discussions on economic issues.

The idea for the alliance was born in June 2006 when a small Georgia delegation including Chief of Protocol Chris Young and Craig Lesser, then the economic development commissioner, was visiting the U.S. ambassador to Canada in Ottawa on a meet-and-greet tour. Young said Lesser proposed the idea, and Brian Oak, now Canada's consul general in the Southeastern United States, became enthusiastic about the concept.

Although Canada is the leading recipient of Georgia exports, it has not been the focus of the state's international outreach efforts. Gov. Sonny Perdue's first official trip to Canada was in July 2005, two years after taking office. Young said that Perdue formed a good relationship with Quebec Premier Jean Charest, which resulted in the two politicians' taking a leadership role in forming SEUS-Canada.

"It's easy to forge new paths, but maintaining the old relationships takes hard work," said Young, who also serves as the director of international affairs for the economic development department. "We don't need to take our friends for granted."

Last year Georgia's total exports to Canada amounted to almost $4.4 billion, although imports through Savannah came to only $354 million. The state's main exports to Canada are machinery, transportation equipment, electronics, chemicals and textiles. The new alliance will start off focusing on increasing collaboration in six industries: aerospace, energy, advanced manufacturing, tourism, biosciences, and transportation and logistics.

With the domestic economy showing signs of a recession, Stewart said his department has needed to work harder to shore up profitable international relationships.

"As the economy softens a bit, we get even more busy trying to be creative and aggressive," he said. "SEUS-Canada represents one of those opportunities to showcase Georgia."

Although SEUS-Japan has set a successful precedent and will meet for the 32nd time this year, another alliance attempted with South Korea has not survived. It was inaugurated in Miami in 1986 and met for the final time in Seoul in 2005.

Hilda Lockhart, director for international trade in Alabama's development office, said SEUS-Korea was not able to pull in the investments and companies needed to make the relationship worthwhile.

"The states were not seeing the results as great as with the Japanese," she said.

Stewart said strong involvement of political leaders in SEUS-Canada, especially Perdue and Charest, has been and will be an important factor. "Business begins with relationships," Stewart said. "Trust is a byproduct of these meetings."

Young said they already have their eye on keeping the new alliance for the long term, planning out every U.S. conference host until 2020. He added that the combination of longstanding business relationships and a shared culture and language creates a strong foundation.

The U.S. dollar has lost ground against its Canadian counterpart. As of Friday, the exchange rate was 1.028 Canadian dollars to each U.S. dollar, a 3.7 percent decrease over the past year.

The weak dollar has increased costs for American companies doing business overseas, but Young said it could help entice foreign companies to set up shop in Georgia when combined with the Southeast's traditionally lower taxes.

"If you're looking to do foreign investment, now is the time," he said.

With the euro outpacing the dollar by more than 50 cents, Canadian officials hope that they can entice American companies to find similar products and services north of the border, where exchange rates are still much friendlier.

Quebec's top representative in the Southeast, Ginette Chenard, said that individual states, provinces and cities need to play an active role in asserting themselves in the global economy.

"If we don't take our place, someone else is going to take it," she said.