News 

Ajay Tandon, has been assigned the new portfolio of Director of Tourism and Hospitality: Ajay was elected director in June. He is the CEO of Canadian Travel Services, a fast growing complete travel solution and Aviation Company specializing in projects across the globe. A proven global leader in travel industry from South Asia, Middle East, Europe , Africa, Central Asia and Canada. Ajay joined travel industry in Islands of Maldives with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines & during two decades in Airline management and Corporate Travel, took challenging posts in UAE Dubai & Abu Dhabi, Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Yemen achieved numerous awards. KLM & Alliances awarded the highest honor in sales for Middle East and South Asia.

In a special appeal to members, both the President Mr. Makkar, and the new director of the tourism and hospitality, have requested qualified and interested members to come forward to become members of the newly-formed Tourism and Hospitality Committee. The committee will be actively promoting the tourism and hospitality sector, and encourage two-way trade in the sector. It may be recalled, that both the governments in Canada and India have been actively promoting tourism.

Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) runs on volunteers. Right from the President of the Chamber to the young committee member who helps at the reception desk of the chamber’s event, the Chamber depends entirely on the services of volunteers. It was, therefore, wholly appropriate that the Chamber felicitated its volunteers at the Annual Volunteer Appreciation Night on July 29th 2015. All the volunteers were awarded Certificates of Appreciation by the President of the Chamber Mr. Sanjay Makkar. A majority of the new board members participated in the program at ICCC headquarters in Toronto. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Makkar, said, “Volunteering is a big tradition in Canada, and volunteers are the backbone of ICCC; we at the Chamber have adopted it since the Chamber’s inception in 1977.”

The ICCC is privileged to have always had unstinting support of a legion of volunteers who have helped accomplish a large part of the Chamber’s mandate.  In 2014-15, ICCC organised over 80 events between July 2014 and June 2015, and the volunteers played a pivotal role in making these events successful. Recalling some of these events at the felicitation program, Sanjay Makkar said, “The Chamber is proud of you, proud of your effort, proud of your support. If it were not for volunteers, our Chamber wouldn’t be able to do anything besides a few programs in a year. That we do so many programs every year is thanks to volunteers like you.”

Emphasizing the contribution of volunteerism to an individual’s development, Makkar noted, “Volunteering offers incredible opportunities and priceless professional development which can enhance business and careers. It provides a sense of fulfillment and a perfect platform for those with leadership potential. By working with others, sharing experiences and identifying best practices, one starts to identify key qualities in oneself, and begins to develop those qualities.”

Mr. Jagdish Bajaj, Vice President, while introducing the event said that the contribution of volunteerism to the Canadian economy was in the range of $38 billion. Quoting statistical survey, Bajaj said that among the many reasons for people to enthusiastically volunteer was to build a network, improve skills and knowledge.

Mr. Bajaj said “The Chamber depends upon volunteer support for all of its marquee events such as the Annual Awards and Gala Night, the Holiday Dinner and Dance, the Annual Charity Golf Classic. The volunteer appreciation dinner was a small measure of thanking all volunteers for their dedication and involvement.” He also added that dedicating time and energy leads to both social and professional gains. These rewards include recognition of skills and expertise which ultimately result in positions of responsibility within the Chamber.

Mr. Pathik Baxi, Vice President & Corporate Secretary ICCC, Mr. Arun Srivastava, Vice President ICCC, Kanwar Dhanjal, Director ICCC, Ajay Tandon, Director ICCC, Pappur Shankar, Director ICCC were also present. 

Mayor of Mississauga, Her Worship Bonnie Crombie is hopeful that she would be able to join Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce’s India Mission 2016. She also expressed a keen interest in developing close working relationship between the City of Mississauga and the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce with special emphasis on sunrise sectors such as ICT, Life - sciences, bio-medicine, aerospace, and agri-foods.

Mayor Crombie was speaking on the occasion of an interactive session between the senior officials of the City of Mississauga and the newly-elected members of the ICCC’s board. The board members who were present at the interaction included Mr. Sanjay Makkar, President, ICCC; Mr. Jagdish Bajaj, Vice President, Programs & Events; Mr. Arun Srivastava, Vice President, Finance & Sponsorship; Mr. Ajay Tandon, Director, Affinity; Mr. Kanwar Dhanjal, Director, SME & Trade; Mr. Abu Becker, Director, Membership; Mr. Pappur Shankar, Director, Mining and Energy.

Mr. Makkar expressed confidence that ICCC will succeed in channelizing synergies between the Chamber and Mississauga, especially on areas of common business interest. Emphasizing the need to tap the burgeoning growth of Mississauga-based Indo-Canadian small businesses, he said, the Chamber’s India Missions have become a catalyst for local businesses to expand their horizons and forge linkages with small entrepreneurs in India. 

The ICCC President discussed his plans as during his tenure, and said that the Chamber would stay focussed to promote trade and business at the grassroots level. He delineated the ICCC’s approach of fostering relations between fast-growing Canadian cities such as Mississauga, and Indian corporate sector, especially the small businesses. He sought Mayor Crombie’s support in this endeavour. “We look forward to many more interactions between the City of Mississauga and our Chamber during your tenure.” 

Ms. Susan Amring, the Director of Mississauga’s Economic Development, and Mr. Robert Trewartha, Chief of Staff of Mayor, were also present during the session. During the discussion, the participants broached upon various deliverable that could result from cooperation between Mississauga and ICCC. These could include attracting Indian investment in Mississauga, launching of an Indian corporate entity’s office in Mississauga, promoting two-way tourism, and helping new immigrants’ settlement programs and activities. 

Following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Canada in April, the relationship between Canada and India has been considerably elevated. This relationship will be further heightened following Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne to visit India in 2016. In this context, it may be recalled that Mayor Crombie has already expressed a desire to be involved with PM Modi’s smart cities project, and is keen to share Mississauga’s experience and knowhow in developing public infrastructure and leveraging its inherent strength to expand its economic base. 

From L to R: Sanjay Makkar, Dharma P Jain, Maysa Hawwash, Brij K Sharma & Annie Singh

The Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce organized an interactive session introducing Drake’s INTELLIGENT HELP HR Portal – Your One-Stop-Shop for HR Solutions on 18-June 2015 at the ICCC headquarters.

Ms. Maysa Hawwash, National Manager for INTELLIGENT HELP at Drake International, was the guest speaker.

She highlighted the importance of Human Capital as the biggest value driver for organizations. She also threw light on the key HR issues faced by SMEs and how the inability to manage these people issues causes a huge adverse impact on the organizations and their bottom line.  

The event was marked by the introduction of the innovative Drake INTELLIGENT HELP portal that leverages Drake’s 60+ years of Talent management experience and modern technology, to help SMEs find answers to their specific people challenges in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The audience experienced a LIVE DEMONSTRATION of the INTELLIGENT HELP portal that gives ICCC member’s access to HR services and best practices needed to run their day-to-day business.  ICCC members also have access to practical advice on critical people issues through free Drake white papers and webinars. 

Drake offered FREE P3 personality assessment and 2-week access to the HR Helpline service to all the ICCC members who attended the event. All ICCC members have a 10% discount when they purchase three or more Drake HR services. 

Mr. Dharma P Jain, President, ICCC in his welcome remarks conveyed thanks to Ms. Maysa Hawwash and the Drake team – Ms. Annie Singh and Ms. Ekta Kaur - for offering the valuable Intelligent Help portal to ICCC members and for spending their time to interact with the ICCC members. 

Mr. Sanjay Makkar, Director Affinity Programs ICCC, highlighted that the session was aimed to create awareness among the Chamber’s membership regarding the HR services available through Drake’s Intelligent Help portal and how they could add tremendous value to the SME fraternity to help them run their businesses effectively. 

Mr. Brij K. Sharma, Vice President - Finance & SME at ICCC, was also present at the event.

Ms. Annie Singh from Drake International introduced the speaker to the audience.

Session in Progress

Dinner reception in Honour of H.E. Vishnu Prakash, High Commissioner of India to Canada

Indian Diaspora is the real ambassadors of India who are working hard to brand India in Canada Said High Commissioner Vishnu Prakash while speaking at the dinner reception hosted by Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce on June 10, 2015.  

He further said that ICCC has played an important role in forging relations between India and Canada for nearly four decades. Indian Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Canada this year added new depth to relationship which has the potential for a very strong economic partnership. Canada’s rich natural resources and sophisticated technological and educational base give us great promise to deepen our engagement. Canada can be a true partner in India’s infrastructure development, food security, energy security, science & technology, higher education and clean energy. 

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Dharma P Jain, President, ICCC said that ICCC is 38 years old organisation representing the Indo-Canadian businesses community. Chamber was conferred Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award in 2012 for its effort to promote Canada India ties. Government of India must strengthen its presence in Canada. Over last few years, the Canadian government has expanded its presence in India substantially, said Mr. Jain. He further said that the signing of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will pave the way for more business to achieve the US $ 15 billion trade target in next couple of years. 

Ms. Dipika Damerla, Associate Minister of Healthcare and Long Term appreciated Chamber’s role in building Canada brand strategy at a time when Canada-India relations are at historic high point.

Ms. Amrit Mangat, MPP also appreciated Chamber for promoting the Canada India bilateral trade and commercial economic relations. 

Mr. Tony Chawla, Vice President ICCC welcomes all the guests and introduced the evening. 

Mrs. Rajni Tekriwal, Vice President & Corporate Secretary ICCC introduced the High Commissioner to the audience.