The outgoing chair of the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce believes there is a positive economic outlook for the region, despite the challenges of the last few months.

The organization’s annual conference and meeting took place in St. John’s this past week.

Des Whelan believes the outlook for Atlantic Canada is “very good,” noting that, as a business owner himself, there is a lot of opportunity in the region.

He says over the last few months, businesses have “stopped looking south” and are now looking to the east and west, such as Asia and Europe, where Whelan says there are “great opportunities.”