Kanwar Dhanjal was unanimously elected the 29th President of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) Thursday, September 21, 2017, by his eight colleagues, six of whom including Mr. Dhanjal were earlier elected to a two-year term to the board. The elections were held online and recorded an unprecedented 63 percent participation from the Chamber’s members.

Dhanjal is a technocrat by profession, having more than 25 years’ experience in the automation and instrumentation industry right from an engineer to a director. He is founder of Just Instruments Inc. which provides instrumentation and automation services in the field of process control for the last six years. He has been Chair of ICCC’s Energy Committee for the last two years and the Chair of the ICCC’s Gala committee in 2015. He is a Rotarian with Rotary Club of Brampton and has participated in many volunteer activities with club. He is also the Chair of the International Trade Committee of Brampton Board of Trade. 

An elated Mr. Dhanjal, speaking about his priorities after becoming the President, said his endeavour would be to encourage his team of directors to build a direct connection with the members. “Connectivity with members is the key to our growth,” he said, and declared that his aim would be to enhance the membership of the Chamber and build upon the previous year’s growth and take it to at least 1,000 in the next year.

“We have challenges on two critical fronts – sponsorship and membership. Without making any high-sounding claims, I want to assure the general body that on both these front, my team will show extraordinary achievements when we meet here again next year,” he added.

Terming the 2017 election as a major shift in paradigm, Mr. Dhanjal said that the directors elected at the 2017 Annual General Meeting of the ICCC represented the younger generation that aspires to transform the Chamber and make it more receptive of the changing business and economic environment.

He said the Indo-Canadian community is rising demographically, and manifesting its presence in all spheres of Canadian society. It is time for the Chamber to rejig its priorities and make the institution relevant to the members, stakeholders and sponsors.

The other directors who have been re-elected along with Mr. Dhanjal for a two-year term include Mr. Ajay Tandon and Mr.Abu Becker. The new directors who have been elected for the first time are Mr. Pramod Goyal, Mr. Pranav Patel and Mr.Sheikh Tauseef. Three other directors, who are in the middle of their two-year term, are Ms. Devika Penekelapati, Mr. Naresh Chavda, and Mr. Sanjay Brahmbhatt.

The AGM was attended by over 150 members, a majority of whom participated in a lively discussion on all the agenda items, which included a report on the sale of the building by the corporate secretary, and a report by the Chamber’s audit committee chair Mr. Imtiaz Seyid.

Corporate Secretary Ms. Penekelapati initiated the meeting and then handed over the proceedings to the chair Mr. Rakesh Goenka, a former President of the ICCC. Mr. Ajit Khanna, also a former President of the Chamber and Mr. Jagdish Bajaj, a former Vice President of the Chamber, oversaw the ballot counting online and declared the results.

Altogether 12 candidates had contested elections for the six vacancies on the board. Mr. Dhanjal invited all the candidates to rededicate themselves to working for the Chamber.  A number of past presidents, vice presidents, and board members participated in the meeting.

Mr. Arun Srivastava, the outgoing President, thanked his board for making his tenure memorable and one that was full of accomplishments.