Trade deal with India ‘a natural’ for Canada

Agreement will provide great potential to open markets, Emerson says

{mosimage}Canada and India have signed a new deal aimed at boosting two-way trade by making it easier and more secure for both countries to invest in each other.

International Trade Minister David Emerson and India’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, announced their signing of a Foreign Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement at the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce’s annual gala in Toronto on the weekend.

“India offers just an enormous opportunity that we as a country need to take advantage of. We’ve got something in the neighbourhood of a million Indo-Canadians in Canada. They’re a natural human bridge to that market. And yet we’ve underperformed our potential for a decade or more,” Emerson told the Toronto Star.

The move allows Canada to open up other markets and be less dependent on the U.S., he added.

“With 80 per cent of exports going into the U.S….we do need to grow other markets and diversify our trade basket.”

Trade between India and Canada, which was $3.6 billion last year