Ottawa – India’s strategic, economic and demographic importance in the Indo-Pacific makes it a critical partner in Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy. This week, Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, welcomed Piyush Goyal, India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, and Indian business leaders to Canada.
In Ottawa, Minister Ng and Minister Goyal hosted the 6th Canada-India Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment, during which they issued a joint statement on strengthening Canada-India economic relations. Joined by officials from both countries, the ministers made progress on key trade initiatives such as ongoing talks toward an Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA). They reaffirmed that EPTA would cover shared areas of importance such as high level commitments in goods, investment, service, a focus on rules-based international order, technical barriers to trade and dispute settlement.
Canada and India have a growing and prosperous trading relationship – our bilateral trade in goods reached about $11.9 billion in 2022, a 56% growth from 2021. Our service trade reached $8.9 billion in 2022. These numbers show what happens when Canada and India work together.
Minister Goyal and Minister Ng reaffirmed their shared commitment to enhance cooperation in key sectors of mutual interest such as critical minerals, clean tech, renewable energy and AI. The ministers discussed continuing to work together in coordinating investment promotion, information exchange and mutual support between Canada and India through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) later this year.
The ministers agreed to an annual meeting of officials on the margins of the Prospectors and Developers Association Conference in Toronto, to advance their shared priority of G2G coordination to promote critical mineral supply chain resiliency and other issues of mutual interest. With Minister Goyal as guest of honour, Minister Ng hosted a dinner in Ottawa that brought together close to 150 Canadian and Indian business leaders and parliamentarians.
During this event, Minister Ng announced Canada’s plan to undertake a Team Canada trade mission to India in October as part of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy. The two ministers also agreed to relaunch the Canada-India CEO Forum, with new priorities to enhance business to business ties.
The ministers noted the desire for enhanced discussions in the area of migration and mobility, with the significant movement of students, professional and skilled workers, and business travelers between our two countries. The ministers held meetings with business representatives in Toronto, including at a round table hosted by the Business Council of Canada, and another round table focused on finance and investment issues.
“It was a great pleasure to welcome my friend and ministerial counterpart Piyush Goyal to Canada. Our two countries share an important friendship and a strong and growing trade and investment relationship that offers great opportunities for Canadian businesses and investors—opportunities that Canada, with the benefit of its Indo-Pacific Strategy, is better placed than ever to promote and facilitate. Our bilateral meetings and engagement with Canadian and Indian entrepreneurs and business leaders showed the great potential to broaden and deepen our relationship to the benefit of people in both countries.”– Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development