New Delhi/Ottawa, May 8 (UNI) Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, who is visiting Canada, co-chaired the 6th India-Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment with his Canadian counterpart Mary Ng, during which they held talks on forging an Early Progress Trade Agreement to further deepen bilateral trade ties.
In tweets, Goyal said:
“Co-chaired the 6th India-Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade & Investment with my Canadian counterpart @Mary_Ng.
“The dialogue reinforced how forging an Early Progress Trade Agreement would further deepen the Indo-Canadian trade ties, mutually benefiting both the countries.”
The India- Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment (MDTI) is a bilateral mechanism which provides institutional mechanism to discuss a broad spectrum of trade and investment related issues and cooperation areas.
The Dialogue focused on various themes including strengthening the Bilateral Trade Relationship between India and Canada, Investment Promotion and Cooperation, Green Transition – including Critical Minerals discussion and new Areas of Cooperation such as promoting B2B engagements, a statement said.
The Ministers also reviewed the India-Canada CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) negotiations. At the last MDTI meeting in March 2022, both Ministers launched the CEPA negotiations with a possibility to have an interim agreement or EPTA (Early Progress Trade Agreement). Since then, seven rounds of negotiations have been held.
Minister Goyal will also be visiting Toronto from May 9- 10, where he will have various engagements to promote trade & investment. These engagements will include meetings with CEOs of key Canadian companies, Round Table of Indian and Canadian CEOs, interaction with Canadian and Indian companies based in Canada and Financial Sector Round table etc. The Minister is accompanied by a delegation of Indian CEOs led by FICCI.
He will inaugurate the Indian Pavilion at SIAL CANADA-2023, which is the largest food innovation trade show in North America with participation of more than 1000 national & international exhibitors from 50 countries.
The event will address the needs of the retail, food service & food processing industries. At SIAL Canada, Indian business participation consists of delegation from Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI), Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) and Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
There will also be a Trade and Investment Promotion Event for the Agricultural and Food Processing sector with Indian companies and Canadian importers on the sidelines of SIAL-2023. This event is likely to be attended by 200 companies.
The visit is expected to impart further momentum to bilateral trade and investment relations.
UNI RN