Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with the Turkish Canadian Chamber of Commerce (TCCC), the Toronto Japanese Association of Commerce and Industry (TJACI) and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce – Toronto (PCC-T) organized a business networking program recently.

The program was part of the ICCC’s effort to create synergies amongst the small business community operating in the Greater Toronto Area and belonging to different ethnicities. The Chamber has had a long tradition of developing and nurturing multicultural platforms for entrepreneurs to come together and exploring different global markets without having to leave Canada.

The program held at the Turkish Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s (TCCC) premises saw participation all the four organizations. Sanjay Makkar, President, Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce; Yoshikazu Ito, Secretary General, Toronto Japanese Association of Commerce and Industry; Steve Pagao, President, Philippine Chamber of Commerce – Toronto; and Mehmet Durmus, Executive Coordinator, Turkish Canadian Chamber of Commerce were the main speakers for the evening.

Speaking on the occasion, Sanjay Makkar emphasized that it was necessary for entrepreneurs of all sizes to globalize. “Today we are in a global scenario where even small entrepreneurs need to globalize because the markets are expanding. They are no longer operating in a cocooned and sheltered environ where they can stay put within a small area; global competition is gnawing away at everyone’s base and if entrepreneurs don’t globalize, they face challenging times.”

Analyzing the potential of business opportunities that the economies of Turkey, Japan and India possess, Mr. Makkar said, “The three countries – Turkey, Japan and India – have a combined population of over 1.45 billion, which is more than China’s population of 1.35 billion. That means the market size that our three markets present is bigger than the biggest market in the world. In addition, the combined GDP of the three countries is 7.6 trillion US dollars, almost comparable to China’s 9.24 trillion US dollars.”

Adding another dimension to the potential, the ICCC President said that the economies of Turkey, Japan and India are at different stages of development, and offer a plethora of trading opportunities for entrepreneurs willing to explore these markets. “This is undoubtedly a great opportunity for any Canadian entrepreneur to explore any and all of these markets,” he said.

The Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce has played a pivotal role in forging similar alliances in the past when we were part of the Greater Toronto Business Alliance where the Chambers of Commerce of China, Italy, Portugal and India came together to create awareness amongst businesses of their ethnicity about the vast market potential that they could tap without leaving Canada.

Several prominent and senior members of the Chamber, including past president Hari Panday participated in the program.