Events
Outreach: Dubai, Chennai & Kolkata
November 16 2011
The Canada-India Business Council was host to several roundtable networking events across India and the United Arab Emirates during the month of November. The roundtables allowed Canadian and Indian companies and stakeholders to take part in frank discussions on the challenges and opportunities present in the bilateral relationship.
DUBAI
En route to the First Annual Canada-India Business Forum in Mumbai, the C-IBC partnered with Emirates Airline to host an evening reception and dialogue at Le Meridien Hotel in Dubai on November 10th. Under the broader theme of trade triangles, the objective of the event was to highlight the important role of Dubai in Indian business. The robust discussion group of Canadians–including Canada’s Ambassador to the UAE, Kenneth Lewis–as well as India and Dubai-based stakeholders, formulated a number of points that informed discussions at the C-IBC’s subsequent engagements in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. The C-IBC will look to follow up on the trade triangle theme again next year by hosting a stopover event in another key hub.
CHENNAI
Following the Canada-India Business Forum in Mumbai, the C-IBC delegation traveled to Chennai, a major city in the southeastern state of Tamil Nadu. There it hosted a business roundtable on November 15th. The event was attended by Indian and locally-based Canadian companies, including a number of SMEs. Also present were Sara Wilshaw, Minister (Commercial) from the Canadian High Commission in Delhi, and Don Stephenson, Canada’s chief negotiator for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India. Participating companies shared their views on opportunities and challenges in the bilateral corridor and benefited from first-hand insights on key trade policy issues.
In Chennai, the C-IBC delegation also met privately with Debendranath Sarangi, Chief Secretary for Tamil Nadu, as well as the Principal Secretaries for the Departments of Energy, Environment & Forest and Information Technology.
KOLKATA
After Chennai, the C-IBC delegation flew to Kolkata. It was the first visit of a senior Canadian delegation to the state of West Bengal since the election of a new government earlier this year.
The group had a full-day program on November 16th, including meetings with West Bengali state officials and the private mining sector. The group also attended a highly informative briefing from Sanjiv Goenka, Canada’s Honorary Consul in Kolkata and a leading Indian industrialist (Vice Chairman of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group).
The next day, the delegation participated in a business round table co-hosted with the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The event drew over 35 executives and officials from Canada and India. As in Chennai, there was an engaging discussion on the current state of the CEPA negotiations, as well as keen input from participants on a number of important economic sectors. In their concluding remarks, local participants noted their eagerness to have these discussions on a more regular basis; a point reinforced by the lively networking lunch that followed.