Canada taking steps to strengthen trade ties with India

Aiming to strengthen its trade relationship with India, Canada is taking several significant steps including putting in place a broader bilateral trade agreement, Canada's Minister for International Trade Stockwell Day said here today.     

"The trade relations between Canada and India have been good in the past and are moving up to another level. We had a meeting with Prime Minister two days ago and also Minister (Kamal) Nath, we are now going to instruct our officials to begin talking about negotiating a broader trade agreement," he told reporters.     

The trade pact aims at facilitating easy movement of goods between the two countries.     

 

A foreign investment protection agreement is also being worked out, Day said.     

The Minister was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function at the inauguration of a new Canadian trade office here.     

A similar trade office will be inaugurated in Kolkata today and another trade office will be opened in Gujarat in April, he said.     

The trade offices aim at promoting and facilitating trade in the region.     

Promotion of trade ties between the two nations is also important in the wake of the current global financial crisis.     

Replying to a query, Day said that Canada is looking for trade promotion in the nuclear energy, telecom and infrastructure sectors.     

The company that makes blackberry mobile phones is mulling the possibility of setting up a manufacturing unit in India, he said.     

To another query, the Minister said there is no cap on the number of Indians wishing to come to Canada.