ICCC Newsletter - November 2019
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| President's Message |
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| Pramod Goyal |
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Minister Fedeli’s India visit
While a lot has been achieved during the last five years, and especially during the Canadian Prime Minister’s India visit last year in which ICCC led the largest business delegation of over 65 entrepreneurs, trade between Canada and India stays around $8billion which is way below of the potential of both the economies.
With $3.1 billion in two-way trade between Ontario and India, Ontario’s contribution to the Canada – India bilateral trade accounts for over 37%, and 9% of Canadian exports to India are from Ontario.
Later in November, I will be participating in a trade delegation to India led by Hon. Victor Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development Job Creation and Trade. The business delegation will travel to New Delhi and Mumbai to leverage Ontario's strengths in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Infrastructure.
It is heartening to note that within a span of six months, two Ontario ministers have led a trade delegation to India. In May 2019, Hon. Todd Smith, who was at that time the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, had gone to India and focused on agri-food, automotive, infrastructure and ICT sectors. Now, the November 2019 mission led by Minister Fedeli will focus on infrastructure and ICT.
Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce has facilitated the India trips of former Ontario Premiers Hon. Dalton McGuinty in December 2009 and Hon. Kathleen Wynne in 2016. Our Chamber will work with the Ontario government to facilitate Premier Doug Ford’s trip to India soon.
There is more information about our mission in the newsletter. I hope you will be enthused to participate in the mission.
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Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce and IIT Alumni Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 2 November at the IIT Alumni Canada’s Annual Gala. The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding is to establish the principles and the basis for increased cooperation between ICCC and IITAC with a view towards strengthening the strategic partnership for the purpose of maximizing the benefits from our mutual interests.
The MoU was signed by Pramod Goyal, President, Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, and Ashraf Ali, President of the IIT Alumni Canada. Surinder Sharma, Director, Membership Engagement, ICCC, who is also a senior member of IIT Alumni Canada was instrumental in bringing the two organisations together. Mr. Sharma, along with Tauseef Sheikh, Corporate Secretary, ICCC, and Satish Thakkar, Past President, ICCC, and National Convener, Canada India Foundation, were present on the occasion, along with Saifullah Khan, Commercial Consul, Consulate General of India in Toronto.
The salient features of the collaboration include:
- Encourage members of both the organisations to take active membership and participation in the other organisation.
- ICCC and IITAC agree to apply member rates for members of each organisation should they wish to participate in any event organised by either organisations.
- Work cooperatively to identify and explore business and career opportunities between ICCC and IITAC members.
- Jointly work to identify and create bilateral economic, technical and business opportunities between Canada and India.
- Promote direct company to company linkages and promotions between ICCC and IITAC business members.
- Develop ways that companies can reduce risk of entering bilateral business relationships between India and Canadian markets or any territories like US.
- Be advocates to the Canadian Government on policies that hinder the development of business and technology linkages between Indian and Canadian companies.
- Be an effective forum for networking, exchanging ideas and information and advancing the interests of the ICCC and IITAC.
- Provide a business or career match-making service identifying opportunities to the benefit of respective ICCC and IITAC members and qualify potential collaborators.
- Access and offer market intelligence on business sectors, industries and companies to ICCC and IITAC members.
- Provide information on Canadian and Indian trade fairs, missions, seminars and other business-related events to ICCC and IITAC members.
- Work collaboratively with Government to address members’ needs and the trade and profession related barriers they encounter.
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| Photographs of the signing ceremony |
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Insight
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| Canada and India collaboration in agriculture |
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| By M J Khan |
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Canada and India have enjoyed enduring bilateral relations founded upon shared traditions of democracy and diversity. Canada is home to over 1.2 million Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) who comprise more than 3% of its population. The highly educated, affluent and industrious PIOs, one of the largest immigrant groups in Canada are well integrated with the mainstream and active politically. Their presence has infused the traditions and culture of India into the social fabric of Canada. This has considerably aroused the interest of the Canadians in India’s culture and Cuisine. This has opened immense trade opportunities in agricultural and food sector between the two countries.
In terms of agriculture and skilled personnel, India is a formidable presence in the world. The country has the largest arable land in the world and is the world's largest producer of milk, pulses and jute, and ranks as the second largest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, groundnut, vegetables, fruit and cotton. It is also one of the leading producers of spices, fish, poultry, livestock and plantation crops. Worth $ 2.1 trillion, India is the world's third largest economy after the US and China. India is the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP).
Canada is also a giant in agriculture production. It is the 5th largest agricultural exporter in the world. Canada produces about 75% of the world's maple syrup and is the world's largest exporter and one of the largest producers of flaxseed, canola, pulses, oats and durum wheat. Canada exports $56 billion a year in agriculture and agri-food products and approximately half of everything that is produced is exported as either primary commodities or processed food and beverage products. Canada is recognized as having one of the strongest food safety systems in the world.
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| Read More: Insight |
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India Mission 2020
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| 5 to 14 January 2020 |
 The Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) is cognizant of the significance of the Indian market to Canada. Growth of the Canadian economy depends on trade and commerce, so it is important for Canada to deepen its commercial relations with India because India will remain one of the fastest growing economies of the world for the foreseeable future, and Canada can contribute positively to India’s growth by providing it the technology and services to make India’s growth sustainable. As the largest representative of Indo-Canadian businesses, the ICCC unequivocally advocates for the Canadian government to enhance relations with India.
While a lot has been achieved during the last five years, and especially during the Canadian Prime Minister’s India visit last year in which ICCC led the largest business delegation of over 65 entrepreneurs, trade between Canada and India stays around $8billion which is way below of the potential of both the economies.
It is time to expand sectors of cooperation that have dominated trade between the countries and include new areas such as technology transfer in sunrise sectors where Canada can be of a great assistance to India.
With the above in view, the ICCC is excited to lead a business delegation to India between January 5-14, 2020.
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| Read More: India Mission 2020 |
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Events
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| Welcome reception for Consul General Apoorva Srivastava |
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| ICCC Board Members presenting a print of Lauren Harris painting to Consul General Apoorva Srivastava |
Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) organised a welcome reception in the honour of the new Consul General Apoorva Srivastava on 28 October 2019. The reception was attended by senior members of the Chamber, leading sponsors and stakeholders, along with the board of directors, and the advisory board members of the Chamber.
Ms. Srivastava took charge as the Consul General of India in Toronto in August 2019, and since then has been active in her community outreach. She is a career diplomat, having joined the Indian Foreign Service in 2001. Prior to her Toronto posting, she worked with the Minister of External Affairs from January 2017 to August 2019.
In her 18-year diplomatic career, she has served twice in the Indian Embassy in Paris, from August 2003 to October 2006 and again from August 2012 to July 2015, and in the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu from June 2009 to August 2012. She has also served as Under Secretary (SAARC) and as Director (Administration).
The Consulate General of India in Toronto is an important stakeholder of ICCC and collaborates on different business initiatives to achieve common objective of promoting bilateral relations and advocating for the interests of the Indo-Canadians.
Pramod Goyal, President, ICCC, while welcoming Ms. Srivastava said, “During the last few years, this collaboration has intensified. We are keen to continue building on that relationship and work on organizing trade shows, B2B meetings. We are also eager to involve the Consulate in our upcoming India Mission 2020 when we will be leading a trade delegation of Canadian small businesses to India.”
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Photographs of the event
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Affinity Program Announcement
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| ICICI Bank's Exclusive Offer for ICCC Members |
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All members of the ICCC who open an account with ICICI Bank Canada
will enjoy a host of benefits including
- NRI: NRI Referral Services.
- Money Transfers to India: No fees. Plus, get an extra 40 paise on top of our posted exchange rates.
- Credit Cards: Waiver of annual fee for the first year on our Rubyx credit card and earn cash back rewards of 2% on selected category (e.g. gas & grocery, entertainment etc.)
- Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs): Earn an extra 0.10% in addition to our posted interest rate for both Registered and Non-Registered GICs (including Non-redeemable and RSP/Tax-Free GICs).
- Mortgages: Enjoy our preferential interest rates.
- Safety Deposit Boxes: No annual fee for the first year.
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