Canada pursues stronger relations with India

15 presidents of universities from across Canada will visit India for 7 days, beginning November 7, 2010.

They plan to return to Canada with deeper connections that will lead to creative cooperation agreements, and leave behind an enhanced profile of Canada as a key player in the global knowledge economy.
 
India, with over one billion people, is home to a growing middle class. This means that literally tens of millions of families are now in a position to offer their children a higher education. But even though the country recently decided to boost its higher education budget by about 40 per cent, the sector cannot grow fast enough to keep up with the demand. The research component at India’s universities is also experiencing phenomenal growth, and India is on track to surpass the research capacity of each G8 country within the next decade.
 
“We also want to raise Canada’s profile,” says AUCC President Paul Davidson. “And given the vast complex nature of the Indian market, this collective effort of Canadian universities is a necessary step to maximize impact there. We are not on the radar of most of the Indians thinking of studying abroad. They need to know Canada offers quality education in a rich learning and research environment.”
 
During the G 20 Summit in Seoul, Prime Minsiter Harper met with the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh and announced the beginning of negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Canada and India.
 
A Canada-India joint study estimated that an agreement could increase GDP in each country by approximately $6 billion and increase our two-way bilateral trade by 50 per cent.  An agreement with India stands to benefit a wide range of Canadian exports sectors such as forest products, minerals, manufactured goods, agricultural products, fish and seafood products, machinery, construction materials and equipment, aerospace, and environmental technologies.

Canadian Minister of International Trade, Peter Van Loan, is visiting Delhi and Mumbai from November 14-18, 2010 to meet with government officials and key business representatives. On November 16, Minister Van Loan launched free trade negotiations with India. A free trade agreement between the two countries would boost economy and create jobs for Canadians. 

"Indian market is important to our firm, particularly after these recent events and announcments by the leaders of Canada and India" commented Taras Paslavskyi, Director of International Relations, Providence Group. "Our company feels that we can also offer a valuable service especially in the field of international education. This is very exciting and we have already began to pursue this market of opportunities, especially in the light of celebration of the Year of India in Canada next year" added Mr. Paslavskyi.