CIF Announces Canada India Agriculture and Food Processing Forum 2012

Canada India Foundation announces Canada IndiaAgriculture and Food Processing Forum 2012, to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia in September 2012

Vancouver, November 23, 2011 – Canada India Foundation (“CIF”) is pleased to announce the Canada India Agriculture and Food Processing Forum 2012 (“Forum”), a 2-day event scheduled to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in September 2012,  with support from the Government of British Columbia, bringing together leading representatives from Canadian and Indian national and regional governments, private sector leaders and industry analysts, for a policy oriented discussion on opportunities for enhancing trade in the Agriculture and Food Processing sector between the two countries.

Announcing the Forum in Chandigarh, India, Barj Dhahan, CIF’s Chair said “CIF has successfully organized two previous Forums, Canada India Energy Forum 2009 and Canada India Mining and Metals Forum 2010, which highlighted the potential for growth in trade in the respective sectors and need for a policy framework to facilitate it”. He added, “We are very happy to have the committed support of the Government of British Columbia, enabling us to announce and initiate planning for the event. We have also begun consultation with Canadian and Indian governments, as well as provincial governments of Saskatchewan, Albertaand Manitoba in Canada and state governments in India”.

At a reception party hosted in her honour by Scot Slessor, the Consul General of Canada in Chandigarh, the Premier of British Columbia, Christy Clark, extended invitations to the Chief Ministers of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to attend Forum. She said, “I have met the Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and will be meeting the other two Chief Ministers Parkash Singh Badal ofPunjab and Prem Kumar Dhumal of Himachal Pradesh. I will invite them to come toVancouver to participate in the Forum. India and Canada can benefit mutually from the Forum. India has crop losses and BC can help in that as it has expertise in agriculture produce and also with modern techniques of storage and transportation besides on site processing”. “Other potential areas of interaction with the Indian states would include mining techniques, clean energy and life sciences, human resources and eco-tourism” she added.

The two-day Forum will be organized along the lines of the previous two Forums, with a Plenary Session followed by specific topical sessions concluding with a Going Forward roundtable, recommending policies for implementation by the stakeholders. Some of the topics covered will be: Food Security, Food Transportation and Storage, Water Management and Treatment, Environmental Considerations, Regulatory Considerations, Agro-forestry, Biotechnology, The Pacific Gateway and Agro-Financing among others.

About CANADA INDIA FOUNDATION

Canada India Foundation is a national, non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental organization formed in 2007 to foster support for stronger bi-lateral relations between Canada and India; to educate Canadians on the changing face of India; and to increase the participation of Indo-Canadians in the public policy process inCanada.

For advance sponsorship and other inquiries, please contact Kalyan Sundaram, Executive Director, CIF at (416) 779-5237 or ksundaram@canadaindia.org.