Just as companies compete for market share, Canada and India see each as other as stepping stones for tapping new markets. While Canada sees India as a platform and potential partner for entering the third world market, India gets a gateway to the larger North American market.
The two countries are bullish on creating more business opportunities, particularly, in the areas of tourism, higher education, clean technology, media and entertainment. Some of the major bilateral agreements which are being proposed include social security agreement, free trade agreement, and audio-video co-production treaty.
At the FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum in Toronto, Mr Stewart Beck, the High Commissioner of Canada to India, said on Friday: “We have kept an aggressive target of enhancing trade between the two countries from $5 billion to $15 billion in the next five years.”
“Canada and India have completed a Nuclear Cooperation Agreement and are negotiating a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA),” he said at the forum held in conjunction with the International Indian Film Academy Awards ceremony in Toronto.
Strengthening of ties would also mean that Air Canada, the national carrier of Canada, will again start direct flights to India, he added. Air capacity for one-stop flights between India and Canada has increased 17.5 per cent in 2008 and 35 per cent in 2009 over the previous year.
In the field of media and entertainment, Canada and India are in talks to sign an Indo-Canadian audio-video co-production treaty. This will incentivise film-makers from Canada to seek tax-breaks while making films involving an India-centric theme.
FICCI, which sponsored this trip, and the Canada India Business Council have also signed an agreement to promote direct exchange of information between entrepreneurs with regard to trade, marketing, production, business and industrial technology opportunities.
Education is a promising area for India and Canada future relations, says a FICCI working paper, adding that both sides can look at enhancing ties in this area.
The FICCI President, Mr Harsh Mariwala, said, “Before going global, the institutions must clearly lay down the motives for expansion, articulate the benefits, indentify appropriate partners and determine their cultural fit so that they can continue to contribute to quality work force and growth of economy.”