Trade
Missions to India: Opportunities Await
Remarks by
David Kilgour,
Secretary
of State for Asia-Pacific and M.P. (Edmonton
Southeast)
to the Canada–India
Business Council
Fairmont
Hotel Vancouver
Vancouver, September
11, 2002
Before I
begin, let us reflect for a moment on the
events of one year ago. On this day last
year, the world united in grief, mourning
and compassion for the victims of September
11. Here in Canada, Canadians opened their
homes and their hearts. Let us pause for
a moment and offer them our prayers. On
this anniversary, we should remember the
victims and grieve for their families, loved
ones and friends. Let us also strengthen
our resolve for peace in all parts of the
world and reflect on how we can promote
peace in our day to day lives.
On that note,
Herb was very much looking forward to being
here with you tonight, but unfortunately
he had an emergency and couldn’t attend.
I am honoured, however, that he asked me
to be here instead, but I’m also conscious
of the fact that I have work to do. As many
of you know, he will be leading a trade
delegation to India this November. Tonight,
I am essentially his agent - I’m here
to recruit!
Why India?
Fortunately,
as Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific,
I’m no stranger to the benefits of
doing business in the Subcontinent. The
business case is certainly not hard to make.
Let me share with you a few statistics that
recently caught my attention:
- India is
currently the 12th largest economy with
one of the world’s largest middle classes;
it is clearly an economy on the upswing.
- If the size
of relative costs of living are adjusted,
it is the world’s fourth largest economy
and is growing quickly as a magnet for investment
and trade.
- Canada is
the 8th largest economy. Yet we are not
among each other’s top trading partners.
- While our
two-way trade did in fact reach a record
C$2 billion in 2001, it is still a far cry
from what it can and should be.
That’s
where Canadian businesses - like yours -
come in. Consider the potential of India.
As Peter Sutherland, Canada’s High
Commissioner to India, pointed out when
we met in Ottawa yesterday, Canada is four
times as large as India with only 3% of
its population. You’re all business
people. With a market that size, I don’t
think you need much convincing to appreciate
that India is truly a country of opportunity
and promise.
But it’s
more than economics. India is the largest
democracy in the world. In fact, India has
the largest number of elected representatives
in the world. As a country that not only
shares our Commonwealth traditions but is
also our second largest source for new Canadians,
India and Canada should be a natural fit;
yet it’s something we have to continue
to work on, which is why we’re all
here today.
As Minister
Pettigrew noted in an address to the Confederation
of Indian Industry in New Delhi during his
trade mission to India this past April:
“Our companies should use each other’s
markets as springboards into neighbouring
markets. Indian companies should think of
Canada as the gateway to the NAFTA market,
and Canadian firms should look at India
as the entry points to South and Southeast
Asia.”
Canada’s
Re-engagement with India
On that note,
let me step back for a moment and look at
India from a broader perspective. As businesspeople,
you are accustomed to assessing risks. In
fact, it’s what you need to do to survive.
There’s no doubt that the current situation
between India and Pakistan might have been
on some of your minds. So too might our
re-engagement efforts with India. Some of
you might be wondering how committed we
are.
In short:
hugely. Let me give you a couple of examples
to illustrate Canada’s commitment to
strengthening our ties. While it might seem
an odd way to measure the strength of a
relationship, official visits are often
what cement our bilateral ties. From about
1998 until March of 2001, India had only
one official visit from Canada - the Hon.
Hedy Fry - and this, I’m told by our
High Commissioner, was only because the
conference Minister Fry was attending was
being held there. Fast-forward to 2002,
and in particular, January to April. In
these short months, India welcomed four
of our ministers - more than any other country,
our High Commissioner noted. These included
some of our most senior Cabinet Ministers
- Ministers Manley and Pettigrew, as most
of you know - and involved one of the largest
trade missions ever led by a Canadian trade
minister anywhere in the world.
These visits
are not a coincidence; they are a clear
demonstration that our relationship with
India is “back on the rails.”
And it works both ways. Just last year,
we welcomed India’s Speaker as well
as its Minister of Power. So far this year,
we’ve been fortunate to host India’s
External Affairs Minister as well as its
Petroleum Minister; in fact, next week we
will receive yet another - India’s
Minister of Civil Aviation.
In the field
of education and human resource development,
we are seeing a particularly concerted effort
at cementing our ties. I had the honour,
for example, of meeting India’s Minister
of State for Human Resource Development,
Professor Rita Verma, when she visited Ottawa
last week. Next week, I will have the privilege
of hosting a lunch for one of Professor
Verma’s colleagues - the Chair of India’s
University Grants Commission, Dr. Arun
Nigavekar,
who, as the one who controls the purse strings,
is one of the most influential people in
India’s post-secondary education system.
All this
is to say that Canada is committed to its
re-engagement strategy with India. Visits
like these - as well as visits by businesspeople
like you - create an environment in which
business, NGOs and people-to-people links
flourish. We now have an Indo-Canadian community
that is almost one million strong. Indo-Canadians
are excelling in every field. They are becoming
increasingly active politically - your former
premier, Ujjal Dosanjh, is a perfect example
- and are a driving force behind trade missions
to India, like the historic mission lead
by Minister Pettigrew this past spring and,
of course, Herb’s upcoming mission
later this year.
Opportunities
Let me move
on then to one of the reasons I’m here
today, which is to encourage you to participate
in upcoming trade missions to India. As
I’m sure all of you here know, India
has undergone significant change over the
last number of years - the kind that makes
it increasingly attractive to investment
and business. Over the last decade alone,
it has deregulated its economy, created
an enabling environment for business, increased
its growth rate to about 6% and, as I’ve
already mentioned, moved ahead of Canada
to become the fourth largest economy in
the world in terms of purchasing power parity.
What does this mean for you? Opportunities.
Permit me to outline a few.
As Herb would
have mentioned had he been with you today,
there is a wealth of opportunities for Canada’s
natural resource sector here — for
partnerships, products, investment, services,
and Canadian expertise.
Energy is
a good example. India has made a commitment
to bringing electricity to the entire country
by 2012, and the Indian government is offering
financial incentives for renewable energy
sources such as wind, small hydro and biomass.
There are
also opportunities for Canadian oil production
companies, as demand for crude oil is growing
faster than domestic capacity for production,
and a potential for increasing the market
for our coking coal, which is well-suited
to Indian consumers.
Canada's
renowned capabilities in coal and metal
mining and processing can help increase
India's current production while at the
same time offering greater protection of
the environment.
India’s
restrictions on domestic logging and its
expanding market for wood products translate
into potential opportunities for the Canadian
forestry sector.
In the area
of geomatics, India has a growing market
for geomatics hardware, software and spatial
data that is expected to reach close to
$4 billion over the next five to seven years.
In each of
these sectors, one of the key opportunities
is the prospect of finding a suitable partner.
Canadian geomatics firms, for example, some
right here in British Columbia, have formed
winning alliances with Indian companies
to bid on and win international contracts.
Why Go?
As Herb would
have undoubtedly told you had he been here,
your participation in the mission is a win-win
situation: you help Canada build on the
momentum and goodwill established by Minister
Pettigrew during his visit in April but,
at the same time, you’ll get value
for your time and money:
As a member
of the mission, you will be able to showcase
your technologies, products and services.
You will
explore the dynamic Indian market and experience
doing business in India.
You will
be provided with opportunities to connect
with potential partners and buyers, and
meeting with government decision makers
and business leaders.
You’ll
have the chance to explore various cities
to explore important commercial and high-tech
centres — like Mumbai, Kolkata and
Hyderabad.
These missions,
however, are not just about exploring opportunities;
they’re also about delivering concrete
results. During Minister Pettigrew’s
recent mission to India, participants signed
five contracts and nineteen memorandums
of understanding and five contracts, together
worth over $25 million. Let me give you
a few examples:
·
Juice Zone Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding
with Cogent Group to open Juice Zone franchises
throughout India. Cogent Group will also
establish several corporate offices to help
organize future expansion.
·
Agricultural Environment Renewal Canada
Inc. signed an MOU with Summit Seeds India
Limited to introduce the company’s
hybrid seed genetic lines to India. The
agreement authorizes its Indian partner
to produce and commercialize the hybrid
seeds throughout the country.
·
Forensic Technology (WAI) Inc. signed and
MOU with Lab Systems (I) Pvt. Ltd. of Mumbai
to provide training and knowledge-based
forensic information systems for the purpose
of automating and networking all law enforcement
agencies in 25 state and central forensic
science laboratories in India.
In short,
these missions produce results. The sign-up
sheet is in the back! I hope to be able
to add some of your success stories upon
your return. For those of you in the natural
resources sector, Herb tells you can get
further information from the Department
of Natural Resources’ website. For
those in other sectors, please keep in mind
that the Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Affairs is here to help. For
those of you in the education sector, I
know there are education trade fairs in
India planned later this month. I understand
Canada will also be leading a large biotechnology
and potential ICT mission to India, with
significant support from the National Research
Council, early next year. Thank you, again.
Herb hopes to see you there!
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