In office as President and CEO of Investissement Québec for barely a month, Bicha Ngo feels ready to take on the institution’s challenges, particularly that of developing the battery sector. Meeting with a “team” person, who takes no offense at being the first woman to head the financial arm of the government.
Becoming head of Investissement Québec is not quite a leap into the void for Bicha Ngo. The 52-year-old woman knows the inner workings of the institution well, having been number two for four years, as first executive vice-president of private placements.
Her new mandate is part of “the continuity” of what was started by her predecessor Guy Leblanc and what she helped to build, since her arrival at Investissement Québec coincides with the start of the expanded mission and the means increased financial resources that have been entrusted to the institution.
“Over the last four years, we have doubled the size of the organization. We bought support services. I think we have reached a level of stability,” underlines Mme Ngo.
The challenges nonetheless remain significant. “It’s an environment that is more difficult economically than four years ago, because of interest rates, inflation, supply chain issues. »
The new CEO also has to deal with a management team that has experienced a lot of turnover recently. “There are several positions that have not been replaced. So we are reviewing all of that. We will announce a new structure shortly. We have a deadline around mid-March,” assures the manager.
Unrest within the battery industry
In a recent interview with Dutythe president of Investissement Québec International, Hubert Bolduc, affirmed that the Quebec regulatory framework represented a “constraint” for investors in the “race against time” in the battery sector.
Mme Ngo agrees with his colleague’s comments. And the challenges in terms of social acceptability of certain projects give her a hard time convincing investors to build projects here, she argues.
She mentions the case of the Swedish battery cell producer Northvolt, which is currently facing a headwind in particular because its project to install a factory in Montérégie will not have to go through an examination by the Office of Public Hearings on the environment.
“A company like Northvolt, which sees what is happening today, it is sure that it is difficult for it. We all have to work together to make this project happen. This is a major project for the next generations,” she says.
“It’s certain that investors are asking questions. But at the same time, there are so many advantages to come to Quebec, with green energy, with the proximity of critical minerals…” she emphasizes.
Asked about the possibility that the context led to the withdrawal of potential investors, Ms.me Ngo responds that she “works very hard” with her teams to “convince several projects to settle in Quebec”.
Currently, the projects already announced in the battery sector in Quebec total investments of around 15 billion dollars. And this envelope could double to reach 30 billion in the years to come.
“The adrenaline of the transaction”
Before joining the financial arm of government, Bicha Ngo was vice-president of corporate development for nearly ten years at the Quebec paper company Domtar. She also worked for the investment banks CIBC Capital Markets and Merrill Lynch.
During her years in the private sector, the businesswoman acquired a taste for the “adrenaline of the transaction”. She describes herself as a “team” person, who “likes to take on challenges”, even where she is least expected.
“When I started investing, I remember one of my very good friends at the time told me: ‘You can’t go into that. It’s a shark environment. You’re never going to survive. You’re so sweet.” But I was passionate, and I went for it,” she says.
Arriving from Vietnam in Quebec at the age of only 3, Bicha Ngo draws her “discipline” and her “rigor of work” from the strict education she received when she was younger, she confides. She also attributes her success to the dedication of her immigrant parents, who gave her “every means to succeed.”
On the list of challenges she has overcome during her career, there is now that of having broken a glass ceiling, as the first woman to lead the financial arm of the Quebec government.
“We mention a lot about the fact that I am the first woman, but that’s not how I see it… We all have different profiles, backgrounds, and that’s what’s great,” concludes. She.