New Delhi, April 29, 2022: Canada’s Saskatchewan province opened its India Trade & Investment Office at the High Commission of Canada in New Delhi on Wednesday. The announcement was made by Honourable Jeremy Harrison – Minister of Trade and Export Development, Government of Saskatchewan, followed by a special address by H.E. Cameron MacKay, High Commissioner of Canada in India, at a special luncheon reception organised by the Indo-Canadian Business Chamber (ICBC). Minister Harrison also attended a business round table hosted by ICBC, at the The Ashok Hotel, Delhi. The round table was attended by several government authorities, business leaders and industry stakeholders.
During his three-day visit, Minister Harrison met the Indian Commerce Minister Shri. Piyush Goyal and senior officials of Niti Aayog, the highest-policy making body of the Government of India. During his meetings, Minister Harrison highlighted the strengths and vision of the Canadian province that can make it a strong and reliable partner for India’s food safety, sustainability and energy security.
Commenting on the occasion, Minister Harrison said, “It is an honour for me to be present here in Delhi today to witness this historic occasion. A lot of work has gone behind making this day a reality today and I must thank all our wonderful colleagues and partners for the incredible effort that they have all put in.” He added, “Saskatchewan is the world’s largest exporter of lentils and field pea, the largest producer of potash and has the world’s largest high-grade uranium deposits, in addition to being Canada’s second largest producer of oil. I truly believe that the province of Saskatchewan and the Republic of India can work together closely in several key areas, in a way that is mutually beneficial to both regions.”
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High Commissioner Cameron MacKay said: “ It has been wonderful to host Minister Harrison and his team over the last couple of days. Saskatchewan is a world-class destination for investing and doing business. The province’s unique strengths in the areas of agri-tech, crop science, and clean and sustainable energy make it a natural trading partner for India. The opportunities for increased trade are ripe and will help contribute to the Canada-India economic relationship, which is approaching $100bn.”
High-Commissioner MacKay also referred to the recent re-launching of negotiations between the two countries on the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and urged the audience to support the deal.
Welcoming the guests, Ms. Nadira Hamid, CEO, ICBC, said, “The Minister’s presence outlines the importance Canadian provinces attach to India as a business and investment destination. We welcome the opening of Saskatchewan’s India office and are confident that having got them thus far, we shall help them realise their objectives in India at a rapid pace as well”
The Saskatchewan India office is headed by Victor Lee and his team. The Province has similar trade offices in countries like Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, Singapore, UAE and London among other major global cities.
Participants at the round-table included Deputy Minister Jodi Banks, Assistant Deputy Minister Richelle Bourgoin, Richard Davis – Chief of Staff, Vinod Bahade – Director (Economic Diplomacy), Ministry of External Affairs – Government of India, Abhishek Chaudhry – VP Corporate Affairs & Company Secretary – National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited, Rajesh Gupta – Deputy Director General – DPIIT, Dr. Dinesh Tyagi – Managing Director, Common Services Centre – Government of India, a representative of Department of Food & Public Distribution (Storage & PG), Arvind Mehra – MD & CEO Mahindra Aerospace, Shatrughan Yadav – General Manager Jio, and others.
This is the second visit in two months by a Canadian politician. Canada’s Federal Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, Honourable Mary Ng, visited India last month and met Shri. Piyush Goyal to formally relaunch talks around CEPA, better known as the Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
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