Nov.04, 2011- Launch of India Mission
Welcome friends.
His Worship the Mayor of Markham Frank Scarpitti, Consul General Preeti Saran, Officials from the Town of Markham, Distinguished guests, and my colleagues on the board of Chamber, and our past presidents.
A very warm welcome to you all.
Thank you for coming to our information session on ICCC and town of Markham’s India Trade Mission 2012. Even as we meet here, our Minister for International Trade Honourable Ed Fast has started his India Mission in Delhi.
The honourable Minister will be in India from November 3 to November 9. Friends, in a swiftly-changing global economic order, enhanced trade between Canada and India is not only important and crucial, it has become an imperative.
Ontario Premier Dalton McGunity and Minister Fast – both of whom participated at PBD Canada in June – have emphasised the central point of the importance of building economic linkages between our two jurisdictions.
The Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce has been in the forefront of advocating enhanced bilateral ties between Canada and India. Over the last 35 years, we have played a pivotal role in influencing opinions and changing mindsets to help mould the right policies.
These initiatives have brought our bilateral relations to a stage where enhanced interaction and increased cooperation have become organic and endemic. It is in recognition of this imperative that the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce has joined hands with the Town of Markham to lead a four city trade mission between January 6 and January 12, 2012.
The cities on the Mission include Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai and Pune. And the Jaipur stopover will be during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas – India 2012 convention.
The collaboration between our Chamber and the Town of Markham is a natural offshoot of our efforts to facilitate bilateral trade and investment. His Worship, the Mayor of Markham, has taken the lead in developing closer economic ties with India. Under his leadership, Markham has developed a proactive policy to create the right environment to support Markham’s high-skilled Indian Diaspora to enhance ties with Indian businesses especially in the hi-tech sectors.
The main objective of India Mission 2012 is to create concrete and definite business and trade opportunities for the participating Canadian companies and help them forge linkages with their Indian counterparts. We have planned a series of high-calibre events and high-powered meetings at all the cities of the Mission to achieve this objective.
Let me now provide you an overview of the Mission. The meetings include B2B sessions, roundtables, conferences and interactive get-togethers that will be organised by leading organisations such as the CII, the India-Canada Business Chamber, the EEPC-India, Assocham, and the Indian Merchants’ Chamber.
These sessions will be with specific focus on sectors of importance to Canada and India and will include information technology, financial services, food processing, logistics and other SME sector. Many of our guests today know the long-standing commitment that the Chamber has to the celebration of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas – the convention of and for the Indian Diaspora held annually in India in January.
This is because the Chamber recognises the importance of the conference for networking, negotiations and updates about the Indian economic initiatives. Since its inception over a decade ago, the Chamber has led a delegation to the event. Our past president of the Chamber, Mr. Pradeep Sood, who is present here today, had led the first delegation to this Diaspora event.
This year, the convention is in Jaipur and will serve to highlight the investor-friendly policies of the state of Rajasthan. Representatives of other states such as Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Paschim Bangal– which is the new name of West Bengal – will also at hand be at the convention to give a broad picture outlook of their states.
The convention will also provide a comprehensive overview of India’s surge as an economic powerhouse as it embarks on its 12th 5 year plan. The Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce will be arranging a series of special meetings with decision makers from the Government of India and the diplomatic corps of the Canadian High Commission in Delhi and representatives from Ontario International Marketing Centre.
We have proposed to have a two-day stopover in Delhi where we will have a roundtable, a welcome reception at the Canadian High Commission and a series of B2B meetings. The Jaipur stopover will include participation in the proceedings of PBD-India where the main focus is on generating inclusive growth by utilising the talent pool of the Indian Diaspora and meeting with various state representatives.
In Mumbai, the B2B meetings will focus on both brick-and-mortar manufacturing and hi-tech sectors, and so on. We have provided you the copy of our draft itinerary of the Mission and will be delighted to share any further information, you may require. Our message is simple and straight forward.
We want you to join us in this India trade Mission 2012. The deadline to register is November 30, 2011.
In conclusion, let me emphasise that the Indo-Canada Chamber has a hoary tradition of being the catalyst for forward movement and momentum on the Canada-India corridor. It has done so by creating the right environment. It is a role that the Chamber has performed with sincerity. We at the Chamber believe that a new chapter is being written on the Canada-India relations, a chapter that holds a promise of prosperity for both our countries.
This has happened because of the new realities that have emerged during the last couple of years which take cognisance of the emerging political and economic scenarios globally. A deeper understanding of realities reveals the plethora of opportunities at all levels of the economy.
We are at a cusp of a new era in economic cooperation between and growth for our countries, and I believe that we must utilise every opportunity we get to further the cause of business, trade and commerce. I thank you for your time and joining us this morning.
