New Delhi, January 17 (IANS). Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday met David AB, Premier of British Columbia, Canada. In this meeting, discussions were held to further strengthen relations between India and Canada and to open new opportunities.
Piyush Goyal posted on social media platform ‘X’ and said that his meeting was very positive and useful.
The Union Minister said that the main objective of the discussion was to strengthen India-Canada economic relations, promote trade and investment and explore possibilities of working together in many areas. These sectors include critical minerals, manufacturing, clean energy, technology, education, defense and innovation.
He also said that it is very important to maintain continuous dialogue and cooperation between the two countries so that new opportunities can be found and mutual relations can be deepened.
Goyal will soon visit Canada with a large trade and investment delegation. The objective of this visit is to advance trade and business relations between the two countries. He said that there is also a target to start negotiations on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Canada.
In November last year, India and Canada had agreed that ministerial level meetings would be held early next year with trade and investment leaders of the two countries.
British Columbia, Canada, is India’s largest trading partner. Trade between the two is expected to reach $2.1 billion by 2024, which is about 25 percent of Canada’s total exports to India. There are about 12,000 technology companies in this province and the life sciences sector is growing rapidly here.
David Eby recently told that during a business trip to Asia, several big projects have been approved, including the LNG Phase-2 project, on which the final investment decision can be taken this year.
At present, India is negotiating trade agreements with 14 countries or groups of the world, which include the US, European Union, Gulf countries, New Zealand, Israel, Eurasia, Canada, South Africa and Mercosur group. Together they represent about 50 countries.
–IANS
DBP/DKP