Summary – IMC’s ‘India Calling’ conference in Canada

IMC’s ‘India Calling’ conference in Canada proves to be thumping success

The ‘India Calling’ conference’, organised in June in the Canadian cities of Toronto and Vancouver by the Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC), was a roaring success with a number of joint initiatives inked and several more proposed, and the areas for investments identified and explored.

In addition to a 120-member IMC business delegation, led by Mr M. N. Chaini, President of IMC, and Mr Mark S. Fernandes, the event saw participation from 240 delegates from Canada and 25 from the US, besides key officials from the government and other areas like culture and academics of both the countries.

They included Mr Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Science and Technology; Mr Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia; Mr Sam Pitroda, Chairman of the National Knowledge Commission of India; Mr Suresh Prabhu, Member of Parliament and former Union Minister of Power; Mr Don Avison, President, the University Presidents’ Council, which represents British Columbia’s six universities; and top Indian and Canadian diplomats.

IMC successfully organises ‘India Calling’ conference in Toronto & Vancouver

10 new Canada-India initiatives in science & technology launched

The launch of 10 new Canada-India science and technology (S&T) joint initiatives worth $17 million was one of the many highlights of the prestigious ‘India Calling’ conference, which was successfully organised by the Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC) in two Canadian cities-Toronto in the State of Ontario on June 16 and 17 and Vancouver, capital of the State of British Columbia (on June 18 and 19).

A strong 120-member IMC business delegation, led by Mr M. N. Chaini, President of IMC, as Chairman, and Mr Mark S. Fernandes, Chairman of IMC’s Shipping and Aviation Committee, as Co-Chairman, spent an eventful fortnight in North America visiting the hubs of business, technology, R&D and education, said a release.

Besides the 120 delegates from India, the conference was also attended by 240 delegates from Canada and 25 from the US, according to Mr Chaini, who addressed a press conference in Mumbai to elaborate on the outcome of the event.

He highlighted that a significant outcome of the event was the Canada-India S&T joint initiatives announced by Mr David Emerson, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and Mr Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Science and Technology. “These joint projects will enhance the collaboration between our scientists and commercialise their discoveries”, Minister Emerson had said.

As part of the initiative, Canada would be collaborating with India in manufacturing surgical stents needed for angioplasty in India. In addition, there were also many other specific science and technology projects identified for implementation under this joint initiative.

Mr Chaini disclosed that the leading lights who addressed the conference included Mr Sibal; Ms Sandra Pupatello, Minister for Economic Development and Trade, Ontario; Mr Don Fast, Deputy Minister of Economic Development, British Columbia; Mr Consiglio Di Nino, Senator of Ontario; Mr Sam Pitroda, Chairman of the National Knowledge Commission of India; Mr Suresh Prabhu, Member of Parliament and Former Union Minister of Power; Mr Don Avison, President, the University Presidents’ Council, which represents British Columbia’s six universities; and top diplomats of both the countries.

According to Mr Chaini, Mr Sibal, who spoke at the inaugural session of the conference on June 16, stressed the need for developing a fair and just ‘global business model’. And towards this end, the Minister said that Canada could extend technology support to India and other developing countries at affordable cost.

The IMC Vice-President, Mr Gul Kripalani, told newsmen that the ‘India Calling’ conference was able to rouse Canadians’ awareness of the vast business opportunities in India, particularly in sectors like hydropower and food processing.

Mr Pradeep Chinai, Co-Chairman, India Calling Committee, pointed out that as many as six Canadian ministers participated in the conference.

A background paper was circulated to newsmen, which provided an exhaustive account of the conference proceedings:

First part of the conference, Toronto, June 16 and 17

The conference, which aimed at building a strong strategic business partnership and at highlighting the numerous investment and business opportunities, was inaugurated at Hotel Delta Chelsea in Toronto.

Mr R. L. Narayan, Indian High Commissioner to Canada, in his keynote address, stated that both were fast growing economies and offered excellent opportunities for mutually beneficial trade and investment.

Ms Sandra Pupatello said that two-way trade was steeply rising. She was all praise for the Indian community settled in Canada “which has proved to be a significant asset to Canada’s economy and culture”.

She congratulated IMC for selecting Canada as the partner for this conference. She noted that, from 2003 to 2007, there had been an 80 per cent growth in exports.

Mr Pitroda expressed confidence that the two countries could do a lot in the field of education, which he said formed the backbone of a nation and was one of the most important key indicators of growth and development. Higher education had to be expanded together with creation and additional opportunities for skill formation. The Knowledge Commission had prepared a plan to work in this direction, he added.

Mr Prabhu suggested that the two countries work in partnership in the field of water, energy, food and environment. Over the years, Canada had developed the technique of land management and India could learn from its experience, he said.

Mr Di Nino said that Canada recognised that now was the time to partner with India. He welcomed the suggestion of Mr Prabhu to form an India-Canada Parliamentary Association and volunteered to take the initiative in this regard.

In his welcome address, Mr Chaini explained that the Chamber had chosen Canada as the partner country for the conference because of the strategic business importance of the two countries for each other and investment and trade opportunities. Bilateral trade had tripled in the last decade to C$ 3.74 billion in 2007 and was expected to reach C$ 20 billion in five years, he said.

He suggested that a few select sunrise sectors, in which both countries could launch joint ventures for mutual advantage, were education, biotech, life sciences, information and communication technology, alternative energy and power, transportation, mining and coal and global warming.

The conference felicitated Mr Dattatraya Mhaiskar, Chief Mentor of IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd, and Mr Shamrao Chougule, Chairman of Indage Group of Companies, for their outstanding achievements.

A ‘Knowledge Paper’ prepared by KPMG, IMC’s knowledge partner for the conference, was released at the inaugural session.

Mr Gul Kripalani proposed a vote of thanks.

Second part of the conference, Vancouver, June 18 and 19

The second phase of the conference began at the Four Seasons Hotel at Vancouver on June 18.

Mr Don Fast, in his inaugural address, welcomed the delegates from India and expressed confidence that the conference would not only strengthen business relations, but also the bonds in the fields of education and culture.

Mr Chaini thanked the government of British Columbia for extending its full support in organising the conference.

He said both countries had many things to look forward to and learn from each other and emphasised the need to collaborate in research, education, mining, biotechnology and life sciences.

In his concluding remarks, Mr Chaini stressed that “the young India, ambitious India, and technologically 2 strong India is all ready to establish synergy with Canada in general and British Columbia in particular for achieving what seems impossible”.

Mr K. Mohandas, Secretary, Union Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, opined that it was the most appropriate time to organise the conference and many collaborative business deals were taking shape on the sidelines of the event.

He suggested that both countries would benefit immensely if they focus on stepping up collaboration in investment and education. “The formation of Asia-Pacific Gateway Project and India Market Advisory Group are indications that India is heading to become a superpower”, he added.

Mr Ashok Kumar, Consul General of India in Vancouver, highlighted that India enjoyed the benefit of a strong judiciary, in addition to its demographic advantage, which gave confidence to investors from abroad to invest in the country.

The plenary session was devoted to the sectors of alternative energy and mining. Mr J. Sheridan, CEO of Ballard Power, made a presentation on ‘Exciting Uses of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Products in Growth Market’. Cautioning about the devastating effects of climate change, he stressed that the need of the hour was to develop clean energy technology.

Mr S. K. Garg, Chairman and Managing Director of NHPC, gave a presentation on ‘Hydro Development and Opportunities in India’. Supported by detailed data, Mr Garg elaborated on the global power scenario, with special reference to the power sector, details on hydropower development and the opportunities and government initiatives. He highlighted the role played by NHPC and the efforts made to enhance per capita consumption of power in the country.

Mr Allen Wright, Executive Director and CEO of Coal Association of Canada, presented an overview of coal deposits in Canada, production and consumption, exports and market diversification.

Mr Ajit Ranade, Chief Economist of the Aditya Birla Group, made a presentation on India’s ‘Mining Outlook’. He said current global growth in the sector was predominantly dominated by three countries-the US, China and India.

India was rich in all minerals and its mining industry was all set to become investor-friendly, he pointed out. The potential of mining, which accounted for 2.8 per cent of the GDP, was yet to be tapped fully. He appealed to Canadian investors to accord top priority to the mining industry in India as demand for metals was on the rise in the country.

Mr Don Avison of the University Presidents’ Council, representing the six universities in British Columbia, viz. University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria, University of Northern British Columbia, Royal Roads University and Thomson Rivers University, pointed out that all these universities were consistently ranked in the top tier of their respective categories. He stressed that they were committed to competitive cooperation, and also dwelt at length on the close working relationship between the universities, government and industry.

In his presentation on ‘Innovation in Modern Bio Pharmaceutical Industry’, Dr Arvind Lali, coordinator DBF UICT Centre of Energy Biosciences and Professor of Chemical Engineering, said that Indian pharma companies had grown substantially in the last 10 years and had shown the ability to cater to global demands. “Global markets are changing faster than technologies produced indigenously in any country, and only innovation and collaboration is the solution to face this challenge”, he said.

Ms Karimah Es Sabar, President, Life Sciences, British Columbia, spoke on the key role of leadership in any organisation and emphasised that direct cooperation between industry, academy and government was the road to success.

Dr Rintu Banerjee, Professor of Molecular Biology, Agriculture & Food Engineering at the Kharagpur Institute, made a presentation on ‘A beacon to the global zenith: Microbes in bioscience and biotechnology’, in which she pointed out that agricultural, healthcare and environmental biotech were of importance in India today.

In his presentation on ‘The Future of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Industry in India’, Dr Vijay P. Bhatkar, Chairman of ETH Research Lab, underscored how the ICT industry in India had grown exponentially in the last three decades, the size of the market reflected in the fact that 10 million mobile phone connections were being added in a month.

Mr G. P. Singh, Senior Vice-President, Business Strategies, Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Detroit, presented a case study on the amazing growth of Sun Pharma to illustrate the success story of pharmaceutical companies in India. He attributed this success to global competitiveness, innovation, ability to invest and disciplined management.

Mr Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia, hosted a reception in honour of the IMC delegation. Pointing out that British Columbia had half the number of all Indians settled in Canada, he said, “These Indians, who came to our country 100 years ago, were among the first settlers. Since then, they have been making enormous contributions to our country’s nation-building and economy”.

He said that major technological, business and socio-political changes were sweeping the world, opening up vast opportunities to people for collaborative ventures and to benefit from each other’s synergies.

According to Mr Campbell, huge investment opportunities existed in areas like higher education, life sciences, alternative energy, IT software, environment technologies, etc.

The Premier highlighted the strategic location of British Columbia in Canada, where he said Indian businessmen could set up bases for operations in North America. “British Columbia, with its 4.3 million people, is a flourishing centre of business, because from our province we have easy access to the 400 million strong market in North America”. Another major advantage he pointed out was that the corporate and personal income-tax rates in British Columbia were lower than that in neighbouring Ontario and California.

Mr Campbell also saw unlimited scope for collaboration between small and medium-sized enterprises of both countries. He congratulated IMC for organising ‘India Calling’ in Canada, which was the biggest-ever India-Canada event held so far.

He also released an autobiography of the Bollywood legend, Dev Anand.

Source: http://www.doond.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6239&PID=6275