February ICCC Newsletter. Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce 924 The East Mall, Etobicoke M9B 6K1, Ontario, Canada

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1 February 2015 ICCC Newsletter Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce 924 The East Mall, Etobicoke M9B 6K1, Ontario, Canada

2 President's Message ICCC President Dharma P Jain Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce s (ICCC) India Mission 2015 visited Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and New Delhi. The mission achieved its desired goals through its active participation in PBD India 2015 and Vibrant Gujarat 2015 convention. Close to 50 small and medium business owners have participated in this year s India Mission. The ambitious Make in India campaign was launched by the Government of India in In broad terms, India s steady march in the field on technological advancement and promotion of local manufacturing is a welcome initiative. Indian Diaspora can play an important role in harnessing India s burgeoning capabilities in this sphere. This subject has acquired immense significance among the Indo-Canadians as well. Make in India is the major policy reform in attracting new investment and boosting manufacturing sector. Canada has its expertise in a number of sectors such as mining, information technology, and automobiles, aerospace etc. in which the Indo Canadians have the capacity, connections and capability to invest. Know your Organization Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce is a 38-year-old organization with twin objectives of fostering bilateral trade between Canada and India and creating entrepreneurial and professional opportunities for Indo-Canadians. It is run by an elected board with the help of various committees involving member. To know more about your organization, please visit: 1

3 Highlights of India Mission 2015 Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) 2015 PM Modi addressing the Inaugural Session of PBD 2015 January 7-13, 2015 Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce s (ICCC) India Mission 2015 under the leadership of Mr. Dharma P Jain, reached Gandhinagar and started their first leg of meetings with business leaders, decision makers and others at the Gandhinagar, India. The delegation attended the inaugural session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas The session was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi. Indian Prime Minister Modi said that the government of India has merged the PIO (Persons of Indian Origin) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cards to ease the travel of the overseas Indians. He further said that many possibilities are awaiting you as time is changing rapidly and India has risen with new strength. Opening of Canadian Pavilion Hon. Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary and ICCC President opening the Canadian Pavilion Hon. Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Government of Canada opened the Canada Pavilion at the Vibrant Gujarat

4 Meeting with Mr. Arjun Ram Meghwal Dharma P Jain, President ICCC met Mr. Arjun Ram Meghwal, Member of Parliament from Bikaner, Rajasthan along with over 30 delegates. Mr. Meghwal is also Member of Business Advisory Committee, Government of India. Both the leaders discussed the scope of the Canada India trade and business ties in general and particularly the Canada Rajasthan trade ties. He offered all the possible help for the Canadian business owners to start their ventures in the state of Rajasthan. ICCC board members Mr. Tony Chawla, Mr. Hardesh Marwaha and Mr. Naval Bajaj were also present during the meeting. Meeting with Mr. Rohit Bhargava Chief Representative and MD, TD Bank India ICCC president also held discussions with Mr. Rohit Bhargava, Chief Representative and MD, TD bank India and discussed the progress of cooperation in the banking sector. Discussions were held among the other participating business chambers to work out common grounds for cooperation to expand the trade ties between the two nations. ICCC released its Report on Canada India Partnership The Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) is pleased to announce the release of its Report on Unlocking the Potential of Canada-India Partnership: Present Initiatives and Future Agenda by Honorable Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to The Minister of Foreign Affairs in Ahmedabad, India on 10 January 2015, in a business reception hosted by GCCI. The report has also been released in Toronto on 5 th December Canadian High Commissioner H. E. Nadir Patel, Mr. Devinder Shory, Member of Parliament, Ms. Dipika Damerla, Associate Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Ontario, representatives of BC and Ontario Trade commissioner officers in India, members of CIF, ICBC, GCCI, and other business chambers from UK, America and Australia were present along with other eminent Indo Canadians. The event was attended by over 200 people. Hon. Deepak Obhrai Awarded Global Vision Award ICCC President led India Mission delegates attended the Global Vision Award ceremony at Ahmedabad. Hon. Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canada was awarded 'Global Visionary Award'. The award was presented by the Vision World Organization of Ahmedabad, on January 10, The award honors Obhrai for strengthening Canada's political and cultural relations with India. Over 10 prominent overseas Indians received the award. 3

5 Visit to Cadila Pharmaceuticals Visit to Cadila Pharmaceuticals The delegates visited the Cadila Pharmaceuticals Limited for a luncheon meeting. Mr. S V Suresh, Deputy Vice President said during its presentation that Cadila is one of the largest privately held pharmaceutical companies in India, headquartered at Ahmedabad, in the State of Gujarat. Over the last six decades, the company has been developing and manufacturing pharmaceutical products in India and selling and distributing these in over eighty-five other countries around the world. Briefing Session with Canadian Consulate ICCC and CIF led delegation was also given a briefing by the Canadian High Commissioner H.E. Nadir Patel in the presence of Hon. Deepak Obhrai along with representatives of ICBC, KPMG and EDC. Canadian High Commissioner gave a detailed presentation on Doing Business in India for Canadian delegates before Vibrant Gujarat From L to R: ICCC President Mr. Jain with Hon. Deepak Obhrai and Canadian High Commissioner Nadir Patel 4

6 B2B Meeting with GCCI The Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), a MoU partner of ICCC organized a business reception for the India Mission 2015 delegates. Apart from the ICCC delegates Canada India Foundation, UK Chamber of Commerce, American Chamber and others were also present. Mr. Rakesh Shah, President GCCI and Mr. Samir Patel, Vice President GCCI lauded the efforts ICCC has been undertaking in promoting closer economic ties between India and Canada. Meeting with Indo Canadian Business Chamber (ICBC) ICCC president held a meeting with our MoU partner ICBC. Mr Dharma P Jain and Ms. Nadira Hamid, Chief Operating Officer, Indo-Canadian Business Chamber (ICBC) explored the possibilities of working jointly in the Canada India Corridor. Mr. Jain invited them to lead a trade delegation to explore the possibilities of trade with Canada. Vibrant Gujarat Ceremony The ICCC-led delegation attended inaugural session of Vibrant Gujarat Hon. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India conveyed his deep appreciation to the visiting delegates from Canada. The summit was focused to attract new investment in the sectors such as healthcare, automobile, aerospace, renewable energy, mega projects, sustainable development, information technology, railways, infrastructure, small scale industries, biotechnology, service sectors and with special focus on manufacturing with the slogan of make in India. ICCC president Mr. Dharma P Jain was presented with the India Mission delegation. Mr. Dharma P Jain said that the Canadian presence at the summit reflect the strong bonding between the two countries to foster new commercial relationships and to enhance people-to-people ties. Canada was also represented by Hon. Deepak Obhrai, parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Chris Alexander, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Mr. Nadir Patel, Canadian High Commissioner, Dr. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labor and Status of Women, Mr. Patrick Brown, Member of Parliament, Ms. Dipika Damerla, MPP, Ontario. Dinner reception with Institute of Chartered Accountants of India India Mission delegation reached Jaipur in the evening of January 11, 2015 for a dinner reception with the Jaipur Branch of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). It was a very successful business meeting to understand the financial issues such as tax system, financial incentives, bilateral investment regulations, financial service outsourcing and scope of the two economies to work together to benefit both the countries. 5

7 Meeting with Speaker, Rajasthan Assembly Meeting with speaker Rajasthan Assembly Mr. Kailash Meghwal Mr. Dharma P Jain also visited the Rajasthan Assembly with the ICCC India Mission delegates on January 12, Delegation met with the Speaker of Rajasthan Assembly Mr. Kailash Meghwal. Both the leaders discussed the emerging opportunities between Canada and India and how the state of Rajasthan can actively participate in attracting the investment in the state from Canada. State of Rajasthan is very good in stone and marble business, handicrafts, agriculture and tourism. Meeting with Mr. Gajendra Singh, Minister of Industry, Government of Rajasthan ICCC delegation held a successful business meeting with Mr. Gajendra Singh, Minister of Industry, Government of Rajasthan. Rajasthan is an emerging state with its robust growth in Agriculture, Mining and stones & granite. Meeting with Minister Gajendra Singh Meeting with Mr. Shivraj Chauhan, Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh ICCC President with Mr. Shivraj Chauhan, Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh President, Dharma Jain also had a meeting with Mr. Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh. Both leaders had a fruitful discussion on promoting the bilateral trade between the State of Madhya Pradesh and Canada. President invited Mr. Chauhan to bring a business delegation to Canada. 6

8 Visit to Calgary Eye Hospital Jaipur Mr. Dharma P Jain, visited the Jaipur Calgary Charitable Eye Hospital in Jaipur with the delegates. The hospital is run in close coordination with the Operation Eye Sight Universal, Meeting with the Calgary Eye Hospital, Jaipur Calgary (Canada). The project was inspired by Dr. Ben Gullison, a Canadian physician working in Sompeta on India s east coast, Arthur Jenkyns, a Calgary businessman, founded Operation Eyesight Universal in Jenkyns marshalled the efforts of others and raised funds for people needing eye care in India. Operation Eyesight developed into a partnership between generous Canadians and Indian eye doctors, and later expanded its scope to include regions of Africa and south Asia B2B meeting with Rajasthan Chamber of Commerce and Industries ICCC President addressing the RCCI ICCC held a B2B meeting with Rajasthan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (RCCI). Mr. Dharma P Jain, President ICCC said that the chamber is leading this delegation to foster trade ties between Canada and Rajasthan. Both the chamber discussed the opportunities available for investors in both the countries. RCCI shown keen interest in signing an MOU with ICCC to work closely with each other in future and decided to sign it before March The meeting was attended by over 50 business people. 7

9 ICCC signed MoU with Federation of Rajasthan Trade and Industry ICCC President signing MoU with FORTI Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce and Federation of Rajasthan Trade and Industry signed Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate and collaborate for strengthening the bilateral trade relations between Canada and India during a dinner reception hosted by FORTI in honor of visiting Canadian delegation on 13 January Mr. Dharma P Jain, President ICCC said that both the organization will work to cooperate to foster a closer networking among the Indian diaspora, and with people and organizations in India and Canada to expand the economic engagement of the Indian diaspora with India and Canada; to facilitate visits of delegations of both organizations and support in the organization of programs, meetings, B2B meetings, conferences as deemed appropriate; to facilitate one-to-one interaction between representatives of business and Government in India, and in the regions where FORTI and/or ICCC have presence. FORTI agreed to send a business delegation to Canada and also told us to start a dedicated bench to work on Canada file in their office. Business reception with PHDCCI Business reception at PHD house, Delhi Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) in collaboration with the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) organized a business reception at the PHD House in Delhi on January 13. Mr. Tony Chawla, Vice President ICCC and Mr. Hardesh Marwaha, Director ICCC were present during the reception with other India Mission delegates. 8

10 Meeting with Former MP, Sh. Maninderpal Singh Bitta Mr. Dharma P Jain met with the President, All India Terrorist Front and former Member of Parliament Mr. Maninderpal Singh Bitta. Both the leaders discussed bilateral ties between the two countries. ICCC-India Mission 2015: Reception at Canada Club High Commission reception at Canada Club, New Delhi High Commission of Canada to India, hosted a reception for the delegates of India Mission 2015 on January 13 evening at Canada Club. Hon. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Status of Women and other dignitaries from the diplomatic corps from the Canadian High Commission, business leaders, and bureaucrats from the Indian government attended the reception. Speaking on the occasion, Hon. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labor and status of women lauded the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce s (ICCC) efforts to foster the bilateral trade and commerce relations between Canada and India. He emphasized that Indian government is business friendly and there is a much larger scope for developing bilateral relations in the all the sectors. He also made a special remark on the role the Chamber is playing in branding Canada in India. January 21, 2015 Emerging India: New Economic Superpower From L to R: Tony Chawla, Dharma P Jain, Andre Kent & Bhim Asdhir India is an emerging market with business friendly stable government which is working to attract investment for development. India is a lucrative market for the new investors to manifold their returns. Bhim D Asdhir, Founder, Excel Funds Management Inc. said on January 21, The Indian government s decision to develop 100 smart cities, diamond quadrilateral project of high speed train network and 9

11 development of industrial regions will help the economy to grow in the double digit in the coming decade. India is the fastest emerging global economy and is poised to reach at US$ 10 trillion by 2020, he added. Mr. Dharma P Jain, President, ICCC said that Make in India is the major policy reform in attracting new investment and boosting manufacturing sector. Canada has its expertise in a number of sectors such as mining, information technology, and automobiles, aerospace etc. in which the Indo Canadians have the capacity, connections and capability to invest. Mr. Andre Kent, Vice-President & Investment Advisor, CIBC Wood Gundy, gave a brief introduction of the CIBC Wood Gundy that it is providing full-service brokerage with more than 1,000 Investment Advisors nationwide and have assets of $139.5 billion. January 25, 2015 ICCC President Mr. Dharma P Jain met Mr. Arun Pandya, General Manager South Asia Air Canada and Past President Indo Canadian Business Council (ICBC) at Hilton Airport. Both the leaders discussed the emerging trends in the Canada India relations and how ICBC can work closely with ICCC to grow their operations in both the countries. They also explored the possibilities of Air Canada supporting the chamber in future. January 26, 2015 ICCC President Mr. Jain attended the Annual Gala Dinner of Toronto Region Board of Trade, at Metro Toronto Convention Centre on the invitation of CPA Canada. Mr. Jain met Mr. Mark Wiseman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Premier Kathleen Wynne, Mayors from the cities of Markham, Toronto, Mississauga and Brampton. January 26, 2015 WEP Open House WEP Committee From L to R: Shibani Sahney, Sunita Malik, Anu Jain, Ginni Sethi and Shelly Srivastav Women Entrepreneurs Professional (WEP) Committee of Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce organized an open house on 26 January 2015 at the ICCC headquarter in Toronto. Ms. Ginni Sethi, Director WEP of the Chamber welcomes all participants and said that the open house is to attract new women entrepreneurs to be part of the ICCC WEP. Participants also get the chance to introduce themselves and shown keen interest in joining the ICCC as members. Participants were from different sectors and shown the strength of emerging Indo Canadian business leaders at the event 10

12 January 28, 2015 Estate Planning: Investment strategies for different Life stages Indo- Canada Chamber of Commerce organised an interactive session on Estate Planning: Investment Strategies for different Life stages on 28-January 2015 at the ICCC headquarter. Ms. Kamla Doodnauth and Ms. Punita Bansal from RBC were the guest speakers at the session. In a joint presentation they said that to protect the family assets and their proper distribution to minimize the burden on your beneficiaries, estate planning is a must. From L to R: Dharma P Jain, Punita Bansal, Kamla Doodnauth, Brij K Sharma, Tony Chawla & Jagdish Bajaj Mr. Dharma P Jain, President, ICCC in his welcome remarks said that estate and investment planning is a complex phenomenon so the expert advice is always a better option to get the maximum benefit and to understand the government policies in this regard. Mr. Brij K Sharma, Vice President, ICCC said, that the session this evening is aimed to create awareness among the Chamber s continuing effort to provide first-hand information from an expert to make future planning future investment. UPCOMING EVENTS For details please see February 25, 2015: EHSP A Business Solution for Health Risks ICCC in news The Indian Diaspora Indo Canada Outlook Indo Canada Outlook News East West Asian Pacific Post 11

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15 SUGGESTIONS Your new board is committed to make this esteemed organization member friendly, open, transparent, and truly a business organization working to achieve its mission and vision. Board is considering of - i) Publishing achievements of members in the upcoming issues of ICCC newsletter. Therefore, members are advised to send their achievements such as new position, additional qualification, awards etc. at iccc@iccconline.org. ii) Publishing articles on different topics involving trade, commerce, tax etc. Interested writers can send their articles (500 words) at iccc@iccconline.org. iii) Starting blogs on Chamber's website. Send your resumes and subjects you wish to write a blog. iv) Constituting a newsletter committee. Those who have flare of writing, designing and passionate about this, send in their resumes at iccc@iccconline.org. Board is there to steer this august body in the direction provided by articles and by-laws and ensuring that interest of various stakeholders is protected. Board invites your suggestions and opinions regarding future events, newsletter content, and ask you to get engaged more and more and participate in Chamber events. You are the true ambassador of Chamber and your board is working for you in. Please feel free in contacting any board member. Please feel free in sending your suggestions and recommendations at: president@iccconline.org or iccc@iccconline.org. 14

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