ICCC’s six-city India Mission 2013

Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC)’s India Mission 2013 which started on January 3 from Toronto has completed its first leg and is at present in Gandinagar participating in Vibrant Gujarat. Led by ICCC’s President Naval Bajaj, the India Mission 2013comprises over a 100 small businesses from Canada and also includes a team from the Cities of Brampton and Markham led by their respective mayors – Her Worship Susan Fennell (Brampton) and His Worship Frank Scarpitti (Markham).

In Bengaluru the Mission had five interactive sessions meetings with the diplomatic corps, government officials, briefing sessions, luncheon receptions and seminars on small businesses, and B2B meetings with leading private banking institutions, chambers of commerce, industry association and visit to one of India’s emerging global IT giants – iGATE.

The Mission reached Bengaluru 6 January and had an interactive session at Vishweshwarya International Trade Centre (VITC), the nodal agency for Karnataka’s international trade. Shivaswamy, Managing Director and Swaroopa TK, Joint Director, along with other officials of VITC participated in the meeting. ICCC and VITC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for future collaborations.  Speaking on the occasion, Naval Bajaj emphasized that ICCC is keen to forge linkages with India’s states and their international trade bodies as each state has different strengths and the ability to offer something unique to Canada. Shivaswamy emphasised the commonalities between Karnataka and Canada in several industry and services sectors such as mining and information technology.

Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI)

Later that evening the delegates attended a dinner reception organized by the Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI). Among the highlights of the dinner was the presence of senior Karnataka leaders and industry leaders. While referring to ICCC’s relations with FKCCI, Naval Bajaj said, “Our organizational relations may be new but we share a common vision of fostering trade and commerce.” He noted that the role that organizations such as ICCC and FKCCI perform on bilateral sphere help towards a more integrated soci0-economic, cultural and political relations between nations and also directly benefit the people. ICCC and FKCCI also signed a MoU for future collaboration.

iGATE & Mayor of Bengaluru

A few delegates went to visit the facilities of iGATE in Bengaluru. iGATE is a silver sponsor of ICCC and has a growing presence in Canada. Another group met the Mayor of Bengaluru D Venkatesh Murthy. The Mayor of Brampton Susan Fennell attended this meeting. The two mayors discussed the prospects of signing a friendship city agreement in the near future. They also discussed best practices on waste management and other civic issues.

ICBC-CII-WTC

The Indo-Canadian Business Chamber (ICBC) in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and the World Trade Centre (WTC) – Bengaluru organized a seminar as a part of ICCC’s project on the Future Agenda for Canada India Partnership: Unlocking its Full Potential*.

Among the participants were L Krishnan, Chairman, CII Karnataka State Council & Managing Director, Taegutec India Pvt Ltd; Kyle Nunas, Consul and Senior Trade Commissioner (South India), Foreign Affairs & International Trade Canada; M Maheswara Rao, IAS, Commissioner for Industrial Development & Director of Industries and Commerce; Pradipta Banerjee, VP CGI & Chairperson, Bangalore Regional Council, ICBC and Nadira Hamid of ICBC.

Speaking on the occasion, Naval Bajaj said the two-way trade between Canada and India has grown steadily. “A target of $15billion in trade has been set which is to be achieved in the next couple of years. It seems like a long way to go considering that in 2011 the two-way trade was a little over $5billion but perhaps not as challenging as it may seem because trade increased by 24% in a year, I am certain 2012 statistic will show an equally impressive if not more impressive growth.”

He observed that it is in the context of growing relations that the ICCC envisaged a project that would explore all aspects of bilateral relations with an emphasis on economic ties and the role the Indian Diaspora has played and will play in enhancing ties.

*Official sponsor of the project