News 

  • 02 Oct 2016 10:49 AM | Anonymous

     Talking Trade

     

    Freedland and Sitharaman pave new path 

     

     

     Mr. Srivastava with Minister Freeland

     

     Mr. Srivastava with Minister Sitharaman

    India’s Minister for Commerce and Industry Honourable Nirmala Sitharaman met with Canada Minister for International Trade Honourable Christiya Freedland met in Toronto on September 29 at the Third Annual India-Canada Annual Ministerial Dialogue.

    Arun Srivastava, the newly-elected President of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC), participated in the luncheon held at MaRS in downtown Toronto. It covered outstanding trade and investment related issues and among other things, focussed on expanding bilateral trade, having more B 2 B interface with constitution of CEO Forum by Canada and regular interaction between the CEOs on both sides and also expediting the free trade and investment negotiations which are underway.

    This was the first high level meet led by a Ministerial level delegation from India after the new Government came to power in Canada. The Trade Minister of Canada Honourable Freedland emphasied the importance of the bilateral relationship and expressed happiness at the back to back visit by the Indian Commerce and Industry Minister and the proposed visit of the Finance Minister Honourable Arun Jaitely in the first week of October.

    Both the sides expressed their strong commitment for taking forward the negotiations in CEPA and FIFA and expressed the desire for early conclusion keeping in view the mutual benefits to both countries and working towards a balanced outcome by taking into account sensitivities in certain sectors. Both the sides recognized the importance of FIFA as tool for higher transparency and stability of investments providing greater protection.

    Both the Ministers heard each other’s perspective on CEPA and discussed some of the sectors where negotiations seem to have been stuck. Responding to the Indian side which has shown enough flexibility in the services modalities, the Canadian side is looking into the issues concerned with movement of natural persons and what kind of provisions could be built into the CEPA.

    India also took up the issues of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Workers Entry Programme which has acted as a barrier for the Indian IT companies invested in Canada to source Indian IT professionals as the norms for temporary entry have become more and more stringent. Honourable Minister Freedland assured that a Parliamentary Committee is examining these issues and some of these concerns are likely to be addressed.

    It is recognised that India and Canada have enormous scope for enhanced bilateral trade relations but, the bilateral trade between the two countries has not been up to the potential. Both sides recognized the immense potential and mutual interest in promoting trade.

    Prime Minister of India, Honourable Narendra Modi during his historic bilateral visit to Canada in April 2015, stressed the importance of bilateral business and commercial linkages as key drivers of India-Canada partnership. During his visit both the nations recognised the need for early finalisation of the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) and expeditiously conclude a progressive, balanced, and mutually beneficial Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), as a basis for expanding two-way trade and investment.


  • 01 Oct 2016 5:00 PM | Anonymous
    ICCC's New Team
     
    The Board of Directors for 2016-17 
     
    Mr. Arun Srivastava
    President

    Arun Srivastava CPA-CMA, MBA is the CEO& President of Paystation Inc. a Canada wide payment technology company based in Mississauga. Paystation is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. With offices across Canada, Paystation is a provider of Payment solutions to Canadian Banks and Businesses. Paystation also provides high security solutions for destruction of sensitive data primarily to the Government of Canada.

     
    Mr. Pathik Baxi
    Vice President - Corporate Secretary & Legal Affairs
    Pathik Baxi, partner of Simmons, da Silva LLP is a skilled and experienced litigator, with his practice focused on a broad range of commercial litigation matters, as well as advising clients faced with Receiverships, Construction Lien Matters and Mortgage Enforcement Remedies.  Moreover, Pathik also has a broad experience in representing a variety of non-for-profit, religious and community based organizations.
     
    Mr. Pappur Shankar
    Vice President - Finance & SME
    Pappur Shankar is a professional engineer in Ontario working as a Business Development Consultant in the engineering and manufacturing sector. He has over 25 plus years of experience in project management and Business development in Canada, UK, USA and Asia in the oil and gas/power/utility Capital engineering projects. Pappur has been bestowed by engineers of Canada as a Fellow and Professional engineers of Ontario as Order of Honor. (70,000 members)
     
    Mr. Abubakkar Noohujohn
    Vice President - Membership & Business Development

    Abubakkar Noohujohn is the CEO of the Nrich Group, President of Airbond Travel and has recently been appointed as the Canadian representative of the NEST Group of India. A proven leader and serial entrepreneur, Abu is a true ambassador of the beneficial bilateral relationship between India and Canada. Abu has led twice the Indo Canada Trade Mission, alongside various Mayors, MP’s, bureaucrats, policy makers and entrepreneurs. 
     
    Ms. Devika Penekelapati
    Vice President - Events & Programs, Sponsorship

    Devika Penekelapati is a founder and Managing Partner of Borders Law Firm, a boutique immigration law firm in Toronto. She has extensive experience of Canadian immigration law and specializes in assisting multinational corporations with all of their cross-border matters. Her clients include leading companies in the technology, finance, mining, and pharmaceutical industries. She is certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a Specialist in Citizenship & Immigration Law.

     
    Mr. Kanwar Dhanjal 
    Director - Trade & Commerce, Affinity Programs
                                      
    Kanwar Dhanjal is an technocrat by profession having more than 25 years experience in industry from engineer to director in India. He is founder of Just Instruments Inc. which provides instrumentation and automation services in the field of process control industry from the last 6 years. He has been Chair for energy committee for 2 years and Chair- Gala committee in 2015 with ICCC. He is a Rotarian with Rotary Club of Brampton and participated in lots of volunteer activities with club from time to time. He is Chair - International Trade Committee of Brampton Board of Trade.   
     
    Mr. Ajay Tandon
    Director - Tourism & Hospitality

    Ajay Tandon CEO – Canadian Travel Services - CTS 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. 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.

     
    Mr. Sanjay Brahmbhatt
    Director - SME
     Sanjay  Brahmbhatt is a small entrepreneur with over 20 year experience in the field of Business Development, Sales and marketing In India, Dubai (U.A.E.) and Canada. Professionally qualified in Sales & Marketing field. He is founder of Range Enterprise, a creative promotional product agency catering to SME, Corporate and Professional arena. Prior to entrepreneurship, Working with ADT Canada Securities, was nominated to “President Club Excellence for the performance and achievement is sales within two year. He was involved with chamber as the chair of SME Committee. He was awarded Out Standing Volunteer by the chamber for 2015-16.
     
    Mr. Nareshkumar Chavda
    Director - Events & Programs, Membership
    Naresh Chavda is a licensed Immigration Consultant and practicing as a President of Canadian corporation Globayan Immigration Corporation, have head office located in Toronto Canada and representatives offices located in India too. He is Commissioner of Oath-Ontario part of my professional work. Naresh has processed more than 1000+ Immigration cases part of his professional work and deal with many diplomatic mission abroad (High Commission, Consulate Offices) of various countries too.
     
    Mr. Sanjay Makkar
    Immediate Past President

    Sanjay Makkar is a serial entrepreneur in Insurance and Risk Management space of Property and Casualty Industry. He is the founder and President of InSureU! Insurance & Investments Solutions Inc. and InsureU! Brokers Inc., a complete premier professional services firm, providing consultations and solutions in Risk Strategies, Personal/Group Health Insurance, Estate and Succession planning, Business/Corporate Insurance, Property & Casualty industry, and much more, for over 15 years. Sanjay has a degree in Mathematics (Hons), achieved numerous industry awards during his career, and serves as an active volunteer in both social and business communities.
     


  • 27 Sep 2016 5:00 PM | Anonymous
     
     Participants at the Hard Hats Tour of Ace Bakery  ICCC Team with Binning and Benin

    The first event with Arun Srivastava as the President of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) proved to be a spectacular success when members and guests came in large numbers to participate in the Hard Hats Tour of Ace Bakery in Mississauga.

    The Hard Hats tour series is an innovative learning opportunity where participants get a privileged “behind the scenes” tour of a successful business enterprise. Principals of a variety of participating businesses host the tours and provide insight into establishing and managing a successful business.

    The ICCC members and guests were welcomed at the ACE Bakery’s facility in Mississauga by Roy Benin, President of ACE Bakery. He also made a slide presentation of the facility and narrated the history as well as the unique features about the bakery as well as the brand. Pavi Binning, the President and the CEO of George Weston Limited, and the winner of the 2016 ICCC Corporate Executive , was also present at the facility. 

    ACE Bakery was started in 1993 by two food lovers who decided the best way to get the kind of bread they wanted was to bake it themselves. The ACE plant has been upgraded with latest state of the art technology with fully automated plant. ACE Bakery has recently invested huge amount resulting it as one of the fully automated plant in Canada.

    With presence across North America, and plants in both Canada and in the United States, ACE is steadily growing across different market segments, and has become the main supplier to a variety of brands such as A&W, Starbucks, Keg, among other major food and beverage names. Unsurprisingly, they began at a small bakery café, using natural starters, letting the dough rise slowly, making small batches of hand-formed artisan breads and baking in a stone-deck oven.

    Today, ACE Bakery breads are available in a lot more places, but they’re made pretty much the same way, with no preservatives and using only the finest, simplest ingredients. The bakery takes pride on baking rustic artisan breads that the consumers find have more flavor, a richer colour, a chewy, moist texture and a satisfying crisp crust. ACE Bakery products are made with the best ingredients and natural starters. There are no added preservatives, followed European traditions and techniques to make the very unique, high-quality breads and baked goods.

    Arun Srivastava, President, ICCC, in his brief introduction, emphasized that the ICCC will continue to organize programs that are relevant to its members. Kanwar Dhanjal, Director, ICCC, said that the Chamber will continue its focus on small businesses. Among those who participated in the Hard Hats Tour included directors Ajay Tandon, Naresh Chavda, immediate past president Sanjay Makkar, former vice president Jagdish Bajaj, former director Imtiaz Seyid, and several other prominent members.


  • 23 Sep 2016 8:00 PM | Anonymous
    Arun Srivastava elected as 28th President of ICCC

    Arun Srivastava was elected as 28th President of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) Friday September 23, 2016 at the Chamber’s Annual General Meeting.

    Arun Srivastava, CPA-CMA, MBA is the CEO & President of Paystation Inc., a Canada wide Payment Technology Company. Paystation is primarily a provider of payment solutions to Canadian Banks and Businesses. Paystation also provides high security solutions for destruction of sensitive data, mainly to the Government of Canada. Arun worked in various executive roles before he became the owner of Paystation and subsequently has expanded the business globally. He is the founder of Inescalate Corp., provider of cloud based Google for work solutions to the SME market.

    Arun is a staunch supporter and donor of Trillium Health Partners & other charities, and has actively contributed to several boards and community organisations. He is the recipient of Planet Africa's Enterprise Award; Diversity Visionary Star; CIBC's Mid-Week South Asian Entrepreneur of the Year and Community Service Award.

    Three directors were also elected to the new board of the Chamber. These include one nominated director from the outgoing board - Ms. Devika Penekelapati who has been elected for a two-year term.

    The other two new directors elected are:

    • Sanjay Brahmbhatt
    • Nareshkumar Chavda

    All of them have been elected for a two-year term.

    Mr. Arun Srivastava, Mr. Pathik Baxi, Mr. Kanwar Dhanjal, Mr. Ajay Tandon, Mr. Abu Becker and Mr. Pappur Shankar are the other elected directors on the board, who were elected last year, and are in the middle of their two-year term.

    Speaking about his priorities, the new president emphasized that while the board will ensure continuity, they will work on two critical fronts - sponsorship and membership.

    Mr. Srivastava assured the members that the board will continue to adhere to the principles of accountability as their guiding principle while taking the chamber to new heights. He also said that the chamber will strengthen all the councils and make them robust in terms of their structure so that they can attract new members and cater to their needs.

    More than 70 members participated in the Chamber's annual general meeting, including several past presidents and former board members.


    Sitting: From L to R: Kanwar Dhanjal, Sanjay Makkar, Arun Srivastava, Ajay Tandon, Pathik Baxi

    Standing from L to R: Pappur Shankar, Devika Penekelapati, Abubakkar Noohujohn,  Nareshkumar Chavda & Sanjay Brahmbhatt


  • 14 Sep 2016 6:30 PM | Anonymous

    Alternative Career Options 

     

    Many keys to many doors

    ICCC WEP team and board members with guest speakers

    One of the key factors of success in Canada is education. Education is not just for students and youth of a certain age, but increasingly, it has become an ongoing process and includes all age groups, even those who are categorized as seniors. This is because in a constantly changing world, upgrading skills has become an imperative. To survive in a tough competitive economy, education has become a sine quo non.

    Understanding this requirement especially amongst newcomers and students aspiring to look at non-traditional career options, the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce’s (ICCC) Women Entrepreneurs and Professionals (WEP) committee organized a session on Alternative Careers. The purpose of this information session was to help its members and constituents get to know of the different government schemes for getting financial assistance under OSAP, WSIB, and second career option.

    XXXX 

     

     

     

     Sharon Maloney

     

     Sunita Vyas

     

     Meenakshi Vyas

    Ms. Sharon E. Maloney, Chief Executive Officer, Career Colleges Ontario, was the main speaker. She explains the structure of the career colleges in Ontario and how they are working for the benefit of the society. The colleges are a key in developing the new skills among the people through their short term courses focused on specialized skills and training.

    Sunita Vyas Founding Director, Academy of Learning College, Mississauga, explained how new immigrants can get help from the Private Career Colleges in getting jobs and in upgrading their skills. She also spoke in details about securing government grants for education. Vyas outlined the different programs of the government for the employers to upgrade the skills of their employee to improve efficiency.  

    Meenakshi Vyas, a Director at the Academy of Learning, also briefed the participants regarding the value proposition by attending the Private Career Colleges and how they can help in shaping your future.

    XXXX 

     

     

     

     Ginni Sethi

     

     Shibaney Sahney

     

     Yatendra Shah

    Ms. Ginni Sethi, ICCC’s Vice President, and Director of Membership and WEP, while welcoming the participants to the session said the Chamber is continuously trying to help its members in getting new information. She said the alternative career program is beneficial for the newcomers and the people who wish to opt for a second career here.

    Ms. Shibani Sahney, Chair WEP Committee, introduced the speakers to the participants and at the conclusion of the program thanked the participants for their presence. 

    Participants at the session


  • 09 Sep 2016 3:30 PM | Anonymous

    Understanding Energy 

     

    ICCC's Hard Hats Tour of

     

    PowerStream  

    Members of Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce along with PowerStream officials at the Hard Hats Tour

    The Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce’s (ICCC) energy committee led by Pappur Shankar, Director, Energy and Mining, organized on 9 September 2016 a behind the scenes tour of PowerStream as part of the Chamber’s Hard Hats Tour series.

    PowerStream, based in Vaughan, is a community-owned energy company providing power and related services to more than 380,000 customers residing or owning a business in communities located immediately north of Toronto and in Central Ontario.

    It serves communities in Alliston, Aurora, Barrie, Beeton, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Markham, Penetanguishene, Richmond Hill, Thornton, Tottenham and Vaughan as well as Collingwood, Stayner, Creemore and Thornbury through a partnership with the Town of Collingwood in the ownership of Collus PowerStream.

    ICCC’s Hard Hats Tour Series is an innovative learning opportunity whereby attendees are given a privileged “behind the scenes” tour of a successful business enterprise. Principals of a variety of participating businesses host the tours and provide insight into establishing and managing a successful business.

    Ms. Neetika Sathe,Vice President, Corporate Development at PowerStream Inc. briefed the ICCC members about the Power Stream's Microgrid Demonstration Project that marks the next phase in the company’s aim of supporting Smart Grid development at the provincial level and raising awareness for the need to leverage innovative smart technologies in Ontario's electricity sector.

    Mr. Shuvo Chowdhury, Project Manager, Micro Grid System at Power Stream gives a detailed demonstration of the project. He shows how the project will be cost effective in the long run as compare to the old power generation systems. He said that this is a new concept and it will take some time for the people to understand the concept and mass production of equipment in future. 

    Power Stream started in the field of microgrids by commissioning its first microgrid at its head office in Vaughan in 2013. This pilot project led to the development of sophisticated and world-class microgrid deployments in its service territory through 2015 and 2016. Making the power grid more resilient, efficient and reliable through the development, deployment and commercialization of new and innovative technologies has always been one of PowerStream's key objectives. One of those technologies is microgrids. 

    Mr. Shankar said that this technology can be  used in countries like India where the rural areas can be benefited. This technical knowledge can also be a boon for the urban centres especially for new smart cities. He thanked Mr. Nani Pradeepan, Energy Committee Member and the Power Stream for organizing the Hard Hat Tour. He said that Power Stream has always been at the forefront of smart grid technologies. 

     

     

     Discussion about PowerStream

     Presentation on PowerStream


  • 08 Sep 2016 6:30 PM | Anonymous
    Indo-Italian Fusion Night 
     
    Mixing cultures & business 


    MICCC President Sanjay Makkar with ICCO President George Visintin

    The Greater Toronto Area is home to a variety of ethnicities who have carved out a niche for themselves in different spheres of life, in various professions and as entrepreneurs. The Indo-Canadian community has begun to branch out into various fields of endeavour, and is following in the footsteps of the ethnic groups that preceded them in Canada. One such prominent group is the Italian-Canadian community that has traditional roots in different parts of the GTA.

    In recognition of the synergies that the different ethnic groups would be able to generate in sharing experiences and resources, the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce had pioneered the formation of the Greater Toronto Business Alliance (GTBA). The business chambers of the Italian, the Portuguese, and the Chinese were the other partners along with the ICCC in the GTBA.

    Another milestone that the incumbent leadership of the ICCC has undertaken is to create similar synergies with other bilateral trade organizations including the Turkish-Canadian and the Japanese-Canadian chambers.

    In continuing its efforts to create more multilateral trade opportunities for its members, the ICCC joined hands with the Italian Canadian Chamber Ontario (ICCO) to organize a joint networking event earlier this month (September 8) at the Savoia Canada Inc. in downtown Toronto.

       
     ICCC-ICCO office bearers  Participants at the program

    The turnout for the event was unprecedented and members and stakeholders of both the organizations flocking the venue to exchange not just business cards and partake in the delicately prepared delicacies, but also to exchange information about mutually beneficial opportunities in business and enterprise.

    An appreciative audience lauded both the organizations for holding the program. The event was appreciated by the members of both the chambers and looking forward to have more events like this in future. Sanjay Makkar, President, ICCC, appreciated the effort and said that this will provide an opportunity to our members to get networked with the Italian business leaders. Similarly, the ICCO President George Visintin applauded the effort and said that networking of Indo Italian entrepreneurs will pave the way for more business engagements between Canada, India and Italy.

    Corrado Paina, Executive Director, ICCO, and one of the original architects of the GTBA, said that the both the chambers have common interests and it will be a win-win situation for both. Participants also enjoyed the Indian and Italian food with the music of both the countries with the Italian wine.
     
     
     Participants at the event


  • 08 Sep 2016 6:30 PM | Anonymous
    Talking Trade, Doing Business 
     
    ICCC's Business Networking Reception
     
     for Vibrant Gujarat Summit delegation
     

    ICCC leadership with the Consul General Dinesh Bhatia with the Government of Gujarat and FICCI delegation

    The Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) in collaboration with the Consulate General of India in Toronto hosted a business networking reception for the visiting Government of Gujarat delegation led by Bharat Lal, Resident Commissioner that is in North America to promote Vibrant Gujarat Summit. The members of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry also accompanied the Government of Gujarat delegation.

    The Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2017 is scheduled to be held from 10-13 January 2017, and will be focusing on sectors such as energy, education, agriculture, information technology, finance, pharmaceuticals and textiles. These are sectors that have seen considerable bilateral collaborations between Canadian and Indian entities both in private and public sectors.

    It may be recalled that the ICCC has been a partner organization at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in 2014, and Canadian Government has been a partner government for a couple of years in the past. In his remarks, Sanjay Makkar, President, ICCC, welcomed the delegation to Toronto, emphasizing that the ICCC has traditionally led a strong delegation to the Vibrant Gujarat Summit.

    He said that in 2017, too, the Chamber would redouble its effort to recruit a delegation to both the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Bengaluru and the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in Gandhinagar.

       
     Consul General Dinesh Bhatia ICCC President Sanjay Makkar 
       
       
     Arun Srivastava, Pavi Binning, Jagdish Bajaj  Resident Commissioner Bharat Lal
       

    Speaking on the occasion, Dinesh Bhatia, the Consul General of India in Toronto, said that the Indian diaspora has played a pivotal role in creating awareness about the growth story of India. He welcomed the delegation from Gujarat and assured complete support to the delegation in its recruitment efforts on behalf of the Indian diaspora in the Greater Toronto Area.

    Bharat Lal, the Resident Commissioner of Gujarat in New Delhi, in his remarks lauded the role of supporting the Summit over the years. Gujarat has been in the forefront of the Indian growth story. The state has witnessed impressive growth for over a decade, despite the global economic downturn. The state accounts for 19% of the country’s industrial output.

    He said the seven Vibrant Gujarat summits held since 2003 have rekindled the pace of investments in the state. The central focus of the eight edition of the summit is sustainable economic and social development. The summit will bring together heads of states and government, ministers, leaders from the corporate world, senior policy makers, heads of global institutions and academia from acround the world to promote development and promote cooperation.

    Several prominent members of the Indo-Canadian community were present at the reception to network with the visiting delegation, which included in addition to Bharat Lal, Deepak Bagla, MD and CEO Invest India; Rajiv Modi, Chairman and Managing Director Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd; Ajay Kumar Pandey, MD & Group CEO Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Ltd; Balrajsinh A Parmar, Managing director Suzlon Wind International Ltd; Hemant Desai, Advisor and Mentor, Reilance Industries Ltd; Jaimin Shah, Co-Founder & MD, Chairman-ICBC Gujarat; Amitabha Banerjee, President, Finance and Group CFO, Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd; Suvas Barot, Director, Creatibe Infocity Ltd; Chintan Thaker, Welspun India Ltd; Dipesj Shah, Head (IFSC & Strategy) Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Co Ltd; Vivek Sonny Abraham, Assistant Vice President, Invest India; Devendra Agarwal, GM, Gujarat State Petronet Ltd; Pramendra Singh, Assistant Manager, KPMG (India); Param Shah, Head-Gujarat State Council, FICCI; Sandip Samaddar, FICCI; among others.

    For more photos please click here


  • 29 Aug 2016 3:00 PM | Anonymous
    Promoting trade with Turkey  
     
    ICCC delegation meets Turkish CG  
     
    ICCC's Devika Penekelapati, Kanwar Dhanjal, & Sanjay Makkar
    with Erdeniz Sen, Turkish Consul General in Toronto
    and Murat Ozdemir, County Advisor

    Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC)’s leadership met with Erdeniz Sen, Turkish Consul General in Toronto and Murat Ozdemir, County Advisor, Canada recently to explore possibilities of global trade ties between Indo-Canadian entrepreneurs and Turkey. Sanjay Makkar, President of ICCC led the small group of office bearers that included Kanwar Dhanjal, Director, Trade and SME, and Devika Penekelapati, Director.

    Sanjay Makkar briefed the Turkish CG about the various activities of the ICCC, especially its mandate of promoting global trade and creating global trading opportunities for Canadian small entrepreneurs. He informed the Turkish Consul General of the different initiatives the Chamber had taken in the Greater Toronto Area to promote cooperation between entrepreneurs of different ethnicities, and how it had been a part of the Greater Toronto Business Alliance, an informal alliance comprising trade chambers of China, Portugal, and Italy.

    He also informed the CG of the initiative that ICCC had taken earlier this year in March when it joined hands with the Turkish and Japanese chambers to create awakening of the tremendous potential these markets have for Canada-based entrepreneurs of these ethnicities.

    The Consul General of Turkey Erdeniz Sen briefed the delegation of the Turkish Consulate’s trade promotion activities. He expressed a keen desire in attracting Indo-Canadian entrepreneurs to trade with Turkey. He proposed B2B meetings as well as exploring opportunities of investment and trade. He assured the ICCC delegation that the Consulate’s trade office would facilitate trade.

    Kanwar Dhanjal, Director, Trade and SME said that the economies of Turkey 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 the two markets,” he said.


  • 18 Aug 2016 6:00 PM | Anonymous

     ICCC Special General Meeting

     

    Two crucial resolutions passed

     

     New bylaws adopted

    New auditors appointed

     


    ICCC board members with Mr. Ajit Khanna

    Toronto: Ninety-five percent of the members who participated in the voting approved of the adoption of the new bylaws of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC), and slightly over 95 percent of them voted in favour of the appointment of Collins Barrow as the Auditors of the Chamber at the Special General Meeting (SGM) held Thursday 18 August 2016 at the ICCC headquarters in Toronto.

    Over 50 members of the Chamber were present at the SGM that was held to approve these two resolutions. Former President of the ICCC Ajit Khanna was the Returning Officer of the SGM, and he announced the results after the online voting closed at 7:00 pm. Eight members present had not voted online, and were provided the opportunity to vote on ballot paper.

    Pathik Baxi, Corporate Secretary and Vice President of the ICCC, chaired the meeting, and answered questions of the members pertaining to the new bylaws. Ajit Khanna, who is also chair of the governance committee of the Chamber, lauded the efforts of the incumbent board in ensuring that the new bylaws were passed. He said that the previous two boards had also worked on this agenda, and the passage of the bylaws reflected the aspirations of both the members and stakeholders about the transformation required in the Chamber’s operations.

    In his remarks, Sanjay Makkar emphasized that the incumbent board had taken into account opinions of as many members as possible to draft the new bylaws. He said the old set of bylaws had stood the test of time and had served the Chamber well for more than two decades. But the changing operational realities had necessitated a new set of bylaws. Makkar also said that the bylaws would also be a commencement of a process of transformation which would involve creating policy documents that would envisage formulations of procedural regulations for the conduct as office bearers of the institution.

    He thanked the contributions of both Ajit Khanna and Imtiaz Seyid, the audit committee chair, who is instrumental in spearheading the audit of the Chamber’s finances for the last decade. Makkar said that the governance, audit and nomination committees have become mandatory and permanent, and would continue to do good work.

    Pathik Baxi called for the meeting to be concluded after the agenda had been achieved.

     Download new bylaws

     ICCC New Bylaws