The Canadian International Trade and Asia Pacific Gateway minister opened the Ahmedabad branch of the Canada Trade Office on Friday. At the opening ceremony,which was attended by Chief Minister Narendra Modi,Minister Stockwell Day expressed a commitment to double Indias trade with Canada in the next five years. Even through recession,exports,imports and investments between India and Canada have climbed up. As we keep an ear to the ground,we keep hearing Gujarat like a refrain, said Day. The trade office in Ahmedabad is the eighth Canadian office in India. Assuring full support from the Gujarat government for the development of the office,Modi said a new era of cooperation will be seen between Canada and Gujarat in the fields of jewellery,pharmacy and energy (including renewable). Day told reporters on the sidelines of the ceremony,that other avenues of business between Canada and Gujarat would include infrastructure in terms of roads,rail systems and aviation,agriculture (particularly fertilisers) and nuclear energy. India had bought two CANDU (a Canada-based nuclear reactor manufacturer) reactors in the past. The present skill-set in India now allows for building reactors domestically, he said,adding that the trade of nuclear technology and pharmaceutics would boost manpower exchange between the two parties. The event was organised by the Consulate General of Canada,Mumbai,in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI),Gujarat. Trade between India and Canada now stands a little below 5 billion dollars per annum,with a fair balance between exports from India at 2.5 billion dollars and imports at 2.2 billion dollars.
