Put Money On India, Canadian Business Told

The chief of Bata Shoe Company has advised Canadian businesses that India is the place to be in because it has kept its commitments even in difficult times.

India has fulfilled its international commitments, Thomas Bata of the Bata Shoe Company, told a luncheon meeting of the Canada-India Business Council (CIBC) here, citing his personal experience during the 1962 India-China war.

Representatives of over 100 Indian and Canadian companies attended the two-day meeting in Toronto.

India had in 1962 declared a state of internal emergency when the shoe companys dividend on their investments in India came up for renewal, he recalled.

 

We were holding our breath. But sure as anything as a matter of routine we received our permission, Bata told Indian and Canadian businessmen.

He first came to India in 1945 when his company began opening its stores all over the country.

Other Canadian speakers agreed with him. India is one of our best performers, said Susan Brown of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Its an opportunity not to be lost.

The average return for CIDA on investments in India is 5:1, said Brown who worked for some years in the Canadian Trade office in Mumbai and frequently visits India on official assignments.

India is a strategic market for the Export Development Corporation (EDC) of the Canadian government, said EDCs Anis Karim.

There are huge opportunities in India for our exports. So we encourage Canadian companies to invest in India, he added.

(The) time to enter India is now. Otherwise it will be taken by Americans and Europeans, he advised Canadian exporters. Export Development Corporation offers up to 90 per cent insurance coverage for 180 days to Canadian exports to India.

Leo Jordan, Parliamentary Assistant to Ontarios Minister for Economic development and Trade, said, Since the Team Canada Mission went to India in January 1996, our ties with the country have been strengthened and we continue to explore new opportunities there.

He was representing Minister Bill Saunderson, who was listed as the keynote speaker at the 9th JCIBC meeting. Economic liberalisation has doubled Indias export earnings to $80 billion in the last four years, said K. Modi, leader of the Indian delegation, who co-chaired the meeting.

The Indian government now listens to business people, who have complete freedom to pursue their business interests, he said. Indias economic reforms were backed by all political parties, he added. Industrial production in India was growing by 10-12 per cent and foreign investors had committed themselves to deals worth $30 billion, Modi said.

Of this, some $2.5 billion had already materialised which was equal to the entire foreign investments in India during the previous 40 years, he added.

Canada-India Business Council president Subhash Srinivasan said political changes would not affect the business climate in India. The liberalisation programme (in India) is on (and) we continue to promote Canadian technology and expertise to our Indian counterparts, he added.

Canadian companies have competitive advantages in several sectors like power, oil, infrastructure and environmental fields.

Canadian companies should make renewed efforts to invest in India, Modi told his Canadian counterparts.

Indian Consul-General Rajiv Bhatia said, We believe that the new policy framework and its progressively better implementation have created an ideal opportunity for Canadian trade and industry to give a higher level of attention to India.

He assured Canadian businessmen that Indian agencies - bureaucrats, diplomats and promotional agencies - are now all geared organisationally and psychologically to facilitate and strengthen interactions at business level with a view to converting them into solid business deals.

--India Abroad News Service India has fulfilled its international commitments and is one of our best performers