News 

ICCC-Young Professionals Committee Speaker Series

Investment planning strategies for Generation Y

Members of ICCC's Young Professionals Committee with investment advisor Neeraj Nand,  ICCC President Naval Bajaj & other guests

The ICCC Young Professionals committee held an investment planning event on April 9, 2013 at the Royal Bank Auditorium in downtown Toronto. Neeraj Nand, the keynote speaker and an Investment Advisor with Royal Mutual Funds Inc., presented investment planning strategies for Generation Y.  Accompanying him was his colleague Giulio Doria from RBC Global Asset Management, who spoke about global market trends with a focus on the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China).

Nand highlighted six effective strategies used by successful investors. He started off the presentation by explaining that investments should be treated like a business, and everyone should have a financial plan in place. He then stated the importance of having a well-diversified portfolio and how asset allocation can help you achieve your financial goals.

Nand also added that emotions should have a minimal impact on the decisions one makes in regards to his or her investment portfolio. The portfolio should be measured against the investor’s long-term goals instead of focusing only on short-term results. Doria made significant additions to the talk by highlighting the rising trends in BRIC countries and addressing their past performances as well as any upcoming trends in the near future. He further discussed how such trends can affect our investment decisions.

Both speakers captured the audience’s interest. The presentation ended off with a series of engaging questions, many of which addressed the direction of the Canadian economy given the current economic environment. The final takeaway from the evening was that no single investment strategy works for everyone and that one should consult market trends as well as experts in the field in order to make sound investment decisions.

ICCC-WEP's

Open House and Networking Session attracts new members

WEP Managing Committee: Smita Dayal, Mini Khurana, Ravi Malhi, Ginni Sethi, Shibani Sahney

Toronto: Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce’s (ICCC) Women Entrepreneurs and Professionals (WEP) committee held a scintillating Open House and networking session on March 27. The event coincided with the cultural Holi festival.

WEP’s core committee comprising Ravi Malhi, Chair; Smita Dayal, Co-Chair; along with Core Committee members Ginni Sethi, Shibani Sahney, and Mini Khurana organized the event that attracted nearly 170 guests many of whom also became members of the Chamber.

ICCC President Naval Bajaj addressing the audience. Smita Dayal & Ravi Malhi are also in the photograph

Naval Bajaj, President, ICCC along with two of ICCC’s Executive Directors – D. P. Jain, Vice President and Director, Finance and Jagdish Bajaj, Vice President and Director Programs & Events & IT – were also present at the event. Ginni Sethi and Mini Khurana welcomed the guests, and Ravi Malhi addressed the audience, highlighting the forthcoming plans of the committee. She said that the WEP committee will hold at least six events in 2013 and encourage women entrepreneurs and professionals to become members of ICCC.

...members of the audience Speaking on the occasion Naval Bajaj delineated the role of ICCC in promoting bilateral economic relations between Canada and India, and creating opportunities for the Indian Diaspora in Canada. He said it is heartening to see such a massive support from the community to our Chamber’s newly launched committee. It indicates the deep resonance this committee has created among the women.      ICCC Directors with WEP Core Committee Members

“To organize two such major events in less than a month requires not just commitment, hard work and tenacity, it also requires deep reaches within the community, and this is where our women leaders have surpassed all expectations,” he observed.

Guests at the event

Click here for more photo: WEP-Open House

Foreign Minister John Baird and Parliamentary Secretary
Deepak Obhrai highlight Canada-India relations
at Toronto meeting with Indo-Canadians

DP Jain, Aditya Vasudev, Rakesh Joshi, Tony Chawla, Hon. Deepak Obhrai, Hon. John Baird, Naval Bajaj,
Hon. Patrick Brown, Jagdish Bajaj & Rakesh Goenka

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Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Parliamentary Secretary Deepak Obhrai on Monday met with leaders of the Greater Toronto Area’s Indo-Canadian community for a discussion on Canada-India relations.

Minister Baird and Parliamentary Secretary Obhrai attended a roundtable in Brampton, Ontario with more than 85 Indo-Canadian business and community leaders and discussed the state of Canada-India bilateral relations, and the prospects of increasing economic and people-to-people ties.

Among those present were executives from the National Council of Indian Canadians, the Canada-India Foundation, the Indo Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canada India Business Council, heads of various Hindu temples and Sikh gurdwaras, Indo-Canadian War Veterans and members of Indo-Canadian media.

Minister Baird discussed the importance of deepening Canada’s ties with India and responded to questions from participants.

ICCC President Naval Bajaj with Minister Baird. Rakesh Joshi of
the Chamber is also in the photograph

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“Canada and India have longstanding bilateral relations, built upon shared traditions of democracy, pluralism and strong interpersonal connections,” the minister said. He added Canada’s priorities in India include infrastructure, energy, food, education, science and technology. He addressed questions on energy, science and technology, education and research. “Energy will be a big part of our relationship with India,” Minister Baird said.

Deepak Obhrai, M.P. and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that Canada considers India a priority partner and the two countries were well on their way to unlocking the full potential of Canada-India trade through the realization of an ambitious free trade agreement. Mr. Obhrai also pointed out that Indo-Canadian diaspora networks were critical to achieving the full potential of this partnership and welcomed the participation of the one million strong Indo¬Canadian diaspora.

Naval Bajaj, President, ICCC, emphasized, the need to create awareness of Brand Canada in India and Brand India in Canada. He said during the India Mission 2013, ICCC created several avenues for the creation of the brand awareness among small businesses in both countries. He also said that the Chamber was keen to facilitate direct trade between Canada and India in the diamond sector. The two-way trade target of $15billion would easily be met if the two countries directly traded diamonds instead of routing the trade through Europe.

Save Money, Work Better

Let Cloud Computing Show You How

Baskaran Rajamani, Partner at Deloitte

On Thursday March 7th the Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce IT committee organized its first IT event of the year on Cloud Computing. The event was held at the newly developed Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto. Speaking at the event Naval Bajaj, President ICCC, emphasized on the need of associating with the chamber and getting benefit from its links with various government and non-government bodies both within Canada and India.  The chamber has been at the forefront of developing strong Canada-India relations and furthering the understanding between these two nations not only at Federal or Provincial levels but at municipal levels as well. Bajaj cited the recent tour of India which he took with the Mayors of Brampton and Markham, which was a tremendous success, and the various events that ICCC organized which is nearly one every week. He mentioned that the chamber has special focus on Small and Medium business and they certainly stand to benefit by participating as members of the Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce. The event itself was focused on Cloud Computing for Small and medium businesses.

Baskaran Rajamani, Partner, Deloitte was the keynote speaker. Baskaran is a highly regarded and well known authority on cloud computing and risk management. He is part of the leadership team at Deloitte’s Technology & Information Risk Services. He emphasized on the value of cloud computing for SMBs and challenged the youth and entrepreneurs to launch new businesses as Cloud computing provided innovative and efficient solutions in a fast changing global economy. He cited many examples where cloud computing was used to cut down on inefficiencies and lower the cost by taking advantage of cheap labour and the time difference between Canada and India.

Ashish Narang of Ingram   Jaideep Kala of Satya Consulting

Baskaran mentioned that the cloud based services like office 365 provided cost effective deployment of enterprise level applications that are most commonly used across organizations without the overhead of infrastructure costs, upfront capital outlay or on human resources. The Cloud provides a flexible and pay as you go model that can be customized to the changing needs of businesses and therefore has the most to offer for SMBs.

Download Baskaran's presentations here: Cloud 1 & Myths

Baskaran’s keynote address was followed by a brief presentation on Office 365 by Jaideep Kala, who is a member of ICCC IT committee. Kala talked about the trends impacting our working lives like mobile computing, social media and the cloud. He showed the value proposition of Office 365 for small and medium enterprises and how SMBS can benefit from moving to the cloud. Office 365 is Microsoft’s integrated suite of cloud based office applications like Exchange, Office, SharePoint and Lync.

Naval Bajaj Jagdish Bajaj

Kala’s presentation was followed by an actual demonstration of the newly released version of office 365 by Ashish Narang who is business development manager at Ingram Micro. Narang demonstrated commonly used scenarios at most businesses and how office 365 helped in managing information, enhancing collaboration and productivity. The event ended with a note from Mr. Jagdish Bajaj, ICCC Director for events and IT committee who thanked the presenters and the audience for coming and gracing the event.

Participants at the Cloud Computing workshop

Jagdish Bajaj cited how in a period of just over a year since he came on board ICCC has saved substantially on its annual IT budget by moving to a cloud based SaaS (Software as a Service) membership management software and Office 365 for its email , communication and collaboration needs. He emphasised that the cloud based software solutions had a lot to offer SMBs and that he would like to see more SMBs embark on this journey. The IT committee plans to have at least three more events this year so watch out your mailboxes for upcoming events in the months ahead.

ICCC’s reception for Indian delegation to PDAC

Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) organized a business reception for the Indian delegation attending the Prospects & Developers Association Convention (PDAC) in Toronto. RH Khawja, the Deputy Minister and Principal Secretary, Ministry of Mines, Government of India, led the delegation comprising senior representatives from government and private sector mining entities.

Norton Rose LLP, a Canadian law firm with global presence and world-class expertise in the mining sector in Canada and India, was the event sponsor and the City of Toronto was the venue sponsor for the evening.

Speaking on the occasion RH Khawja reiterated the Government of India’s commitment to liberalize the mining sector and said that the proposed mining legislation that would usher in liberalization is at present before the Parliamentary standing committee.

The deputy minister emphasized that even if the passing of the bill took time, opportunities exist in the mining sector in India.

Canadian companies are investing to the tune of $150 million annually, the minister said, and added that the sector also has some challenges. “Displacement of the people is an important matter and it is the responsibility of the government,” he explained.

This new realisation has led to policy formulations that encourage sustainable mining and this is where Canada and India can collaborate significantly. Technology decisions in India are now being based on sustainability rather than extraction.

 

Naval Bajaj

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Naval Bajaj enumerated the synergies between Canada and India in the mining sector. He said Canada has the technological knowhow and investment opportunities that are of interest to Indian companies both in the government and the private sector. Similarly, India offers tremendous opportunities in exploration and other spheres.

He said ICCC had through its Canada-India Mining Committee (CIMC) undertaken several proactive measures to facilitate exchange of information in the mining sector between the two countries.

ICCC President highlighted the need for responsible mining practices, a sphere in which Canada has emerged as a global leader. He emphasized that India could benefit from collaboration with Canada in this sphere as Canada is committed to working with its trading partners to pursue policies that support a responsible and sustainable investment environment in the best interests of both workers and businesses.

Consul General Preeti Saran lauded ICCC’s efforts in promoting bilateral economic ties and said the Chamber has been proactive in promoting Canada-India collaboration sectors of mutual interest such as energy, education, infrastructure, mining and agro industries.

Ned Steinman of Norton Rose highlighted the expertise and abilities of the law firm and its deep interests in the Indian mining sector.

Susan Viegas, Senior Advisor Toronto Economic Development, highlighted Toronto’s investor-friendly policies and how it has become a hub of the new thrust in Canada’s economic renaissance. 

RH Khawja

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Official sponsor of the project

A Roundtable on the theme: Future Agenda For Canada-India Partnership: Unlocking its full potential, sponsored by Shastri Indo-Canada Institute (SICI) in partnership with Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC), was held at HEC Montréal on March 1, 2013.

At the round table SICI (www.sici.org) was represented by its President Dr. Ranbir Singh and the President-Elect Dr. Shanthi Johnson and ICCC (www.iccc.org) was represented by its President Naval Bajaj, who welcomed and thanked all other participants.  Secretary General, HEC Montréal Federico Pasin (www.hec.ca), delivered opening remarks.

Hon. Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs was the guest of honour. Approximately 60 participants representing Quebec Government, DFAIT, the Indian diaspora, young business professionals, business owners, and members of the Global Business Forum, a newly established forum at HEC Montréal (www.hec.ca/gbf). The conference was bilingual and participants were free to express their views in both languages. The message received from the Deputy High Commissioner of India served as a useful backdrop for discussions among the participants.

A background note was made available to all roundtable participants. Roundtable format and subject matters are listed below: agriculture and food processing; higher education; innovation in energy, science and technology; small and medium enterprises (SMEs); and the bridge-building role of Indo-Canadians.

Two major points that emerged as crucial for advancing Canada-India Partnership were academia-industry-business interface and mobilisation of the Indian Diaspora resources and knowledge networks. The need for sustained actions in these two areas were highlighted by the participants. The term Indo-Québecer was used to emphasize the role of Indo-Canadians residing in Quebec or having links with Quebec as bridge builders.

A Joint Report in both languages is being prepared by SICI, ICCC and HEC Montreal and will be disseminated to all concerned opinion, policy and decision makers. 

French version:

Une table ronde sur le thème d’un Futur programme de partenariat Canada-Inde : Libérer son plein potentiel, parrainée par l’Institut Indo-Canadien Shastri (IICS) en partenariat avec la Chambre de commerce Indo-Canada (CCIC), a eu lieu à HEC Montréal le 1^er mars 2013. À cette table ronde, l’IICS (www.sici.org) était représentée par son Président Dr Ranbir Singh et la Présidente élue Dr Shanthi Johnson et la CCIC (www.iccc.org) par son Président Naval Bajaj. Ils ont souhaité la bienvenue et remercié tous les autres participants. Le Secrétaire général de HEC Montréal (www.hec.ca), M. Federico Pasin, a aussi fait le discours d’ouverture.  

L’Honorable Deepak Obhrai, secrétaire parlementaire du ministre des Affaires étrangères était l’invité d’honneur. Près de 60 participants représentant le Gouvernement du Québec, le Département des Affaires étrangères et Commerce international Canada, la diaspora indienne, de jeunes professionnels, des dirigeants d’entreprises et des membres du Forum des affaires mondiales, un nouveau forum à HEC Montréal (web.hec.ca/gbf), étaient présents. La table ronde était bilingue et les participants pouvaient s’exprimer autant en français qu’en anglais. Le message du Haut commissionnaire adjoint de l’Inde a servi à alimenter la discussion parmi les participants.

Des notes d’informations ont été mises à la disposition des participants de la table ronde. Les thèmes qui ont été abordés sont les suivants : l’agriculture et la transformation alimentaire, l’enseignement supérieur, l’innovation en matière de l’énergie, de la science et de la technologie; les petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) et le rôle des Indo-Canadiens dans le développement de partenariats.

Deux points majeurs sont ressortis comme cruciaux à la table ronde pour faire avancer les partenariats Canada-Inde, soit l’interface universités-industries-entreprises et la mobilisation des ressources de la diaspora indienne et de leurs réseaux d’information. La nécessité d’entreprendre des actions concrètes dans ces deux sphères a été soulignée par les participants. Par ailleurs, le terme Indo-Québécois a été utilisé pour mettre l’emphase sur le rôle des Indo-Canadiens résidant au Québec ou ayant des liens avec le Québec dans le développement de partenariats entre le Québec et l’Inde.

Mayor Fennell launches India Mission 2013 report

 

Mayor Susan Fennell of Brampton launched Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce’s India Mission 2013 report last evening at a ceremony held inside Brampton’s City Hall.

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Download the report from this link: India Mission 2013

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Brampton’s Councillor Gael Miles and Vic Dhillon along with members of the city’s economic development department participated in the event along with members of Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) and India Mission 2013 delegates.

Lauding the exemplary lead that ICCC has taken in giving a concrete dimension to enhancing bilateral trade between Canada and India, Mayor Fennell said, “The two-way trade will grow from $5billion to $15billion when businesses in both the country form linkages. India Mission 2013 helped in establishing such a link.”

During the India Mission 2013, the team from Brampton had nearly 40 meetings in eight cities. Recounting her experiences during the two-week trip to India as part of the India Mission 2013, Mayor Fennell said through ICCC the City of Brampton got the best possible introduction to India. “We had access to important decision makers from the world of business and politics which wouldn’t have been possible without ICCC.”

Echoing the Mayor’s sentiments, Councillor Miles said the mission helped Brampton raise its profile in the right quarters. “The visit will open doors for future collaborations between Brampton-based small businesses and their Indian counterparts,” she said.

Councillor Vic Dhillon also said that a number of deals are expected to be finalized as a result of the mission but because of the confidentiality clause these couldn’t be disclosed to the public.

Speaking on the occasion Naval Bajaj highlighted the achievements of the mission. “With more than a hundred small businesses joining the mission, it was the largest trade mission to India in ICCC’s 35 year history,” he said, adding, “This was the first time that two cities – Brampton and Markham – joined the mission.”

Naval Bajaj said through the mission, ICCC helped in creating awareness about Brand India amongst the hundred Canadian companies who participated in the mission, simultaneously, the presence of Canadian companies in India and their interaction with Indian small businesses directly helped in enhancing awareness of Brand Canada in India.

He said, “The mission successfully connected Canadian small businesses to Indian economic organizations with significant representation in the SME sector and highlighted a growing interest in Canada amongst these groups, and provided to the delegates crucial forums for engaging with Indian policymakers, business community, media and globally-minded advocacy groups.”

Sanjay Makkar, ICCC’s Vice President and Director, Affinity Programs, and Satish Thakkar, ICCC’s Immediate Past President also spoke on the occasion.

ICCC - Hon Bal Gosal holds pre budget consultation with ICCC members - 15-02-13

Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) are economic engines of our country, Hon. Bal Gosal, Minister of State for Sports said in his remarks during a pre-budget consultation roundtable with the members of Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) on 15 February, 2013.

Hon. Bal Gosal, Minister of State for Sports and ICCC President Naval Bajaj with other ICCC members

The Economic Action Plan 2013 will be presented in the House of Commons in March, 2013. It will focus on diversifying trade to new geographies.

The budget consultations aimed to find out means to strengthen the Canadian economy in the face of global economic threats, solidify economic recovery, find efficient and effective ways to spending and encourage private sector growth and leadership in the economy.

Minister Gosal explained, “Economic challenges in European Union and USA affected the Canadian economy but despite global recession Canadian economy succeeded in generating more than 900,000 jobs and performed best among the G-7 countries.”

Giving information about the trends in the Canadian economy, the Minister said, “The commodity prices in Canada remains stable due to our vast natural resources and sound economic policies.”

The current trade with India is around US$5.2 billion and is expected to rise to US$15 billion by the year 2015.  The Minister was keen to leverage Canada India partnership in the small sector in the high tech sector to compete in the international market.

ICCC members at the pre-budget consultations with Minister Bal Gosal

Speaking on the occasion Naval Bajaj, President, ICCC, stated the chamber’s initiative during the India Mission 2013 to build Brand Canada in India and promoting the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector.

He suggested that special economic regions should be created to give more incentives by government to manufacturing sector for attracting investment.  Informing the Minister of ICCC’s India Mission 2013, Naval Bajaj said the Mission was the largest in the Chamber’s history and comprised over a hundred Canadian small businesses along with Mayors of Brampton and Markham.

“The purpose of the mission was to help small businesses forge links with the Indian companies,” he said.

The mission also educated Indian businesses of investment opportunities in Canada in food processing, energy, SME, education, skill development, aerospace, mining and infrastructure.

Participants at the roundtable made a series of recommendations some of which included the following.

• Tax relief for job creating SMEs should continue in the economic action plan 2013.
• Awareness programs for the SMEs to develop export oriented products and help them in finding new consumers in the international market.
• Infrastructure of big projects should be developed which added value to the money invested.
• Direct non-stop Air Canada flight to any Indian city for promoting tourism.
• Motivating the investors to invest in Canada
• Cut down the red tape for speedy clearance of loans for the businesses.
• Promotion of Canada as a shooting destination for the film industry as Canada is rich in natural beauty.
• Direct trade of rough diamonds with India as Canada is the largest exporter and India is largest exporter of finished diamonds.
• Special budgetary provisions for promoting the Canadian brands in the international market.
• Investment in the innovation centres for developing new technologies.