India and Canada will benefit from tech partnerships

The path to economic growth is through innovation. Globalisation and technology are reshaping how the world lives and works

Canada is home to one of the largest South Asian communities abroad, per capita. In fact, close to 1.2 million Canadians are of Indian heritage. Canada and India enjoy a longstanding relationship built on our shared traditions of democracy and strong interpersonal connections.

India remains the fastest growing economy in the world and is a priority market for Canada. The vibrancy of Canada’s cultural and people-to-people ties with India is a competitive advantage we have not yet fully tapped for our mutual benefit. Now is the time to seize opportunities, be ambitious and expand two-way investment. 

The path to continued economic growth for our two countries is through innovation. Globalisation and technology are reshaping how the world lives and works. Canada and India are ideal partners who can benefit from each other’s ideas. 

That is why we are proud to be the partner country of the 23rd Technology Summit this November in New Delhi — India’s largest knowledge and technology conference and exhibition.

François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s minister of international trade, Navdeep Bains, Canada’s minister of innovation, science and economic development, and I will lead a trade mission to India during the week beginning November 13 with a delegation of Canadian business people.

The Canadian companies coming to India for the India-Canada Tech Summit are world-leading innovators that, when partnered with innovative Indian companies, will help improve lives and drive growth.

The tech summit will showcase the strength and future potential of our two countries’ active and diverse science and technology relationship.

Our delegation will then travel to Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and Bengaluru for sector-specific business programmes, drawing on our two countries’ people-to-people ties from north to south and east to west across the subcontinent.

Both India and Canada are world leaders in transportation, specifically in the areas of rail, aviation, infrastructure and intelligent transportation systems.

Intelligent transportation systems are a broad range of diverse technologies that make transportation systems safer and more efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly without necessarily having to physically alter existing infrastructure. 

The Government of Canada is working with industry and other partners to promote research and development in new transportation technologies like unmanned aircraft systems, zero-emission vehicles, and connected and automated vehicles. By working together, we can share best practices and help each other be at the forefront of new technologies. 

That is why we have in place three important Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) related to transportation. They provide for greater engagement between Canada and India in the areas of civil aviation and road and rail transportation.

1. The Canada-India MoU to increase cooperation in rail transportation by fostering communication, information sharing, and the exchange of best practices in the rail sector, including rail safety.

2. The Canada-India MoU to deepen cooperation in road transportation in the fields of road safety, highway management, and the application of intelligent transportation systems. 

3. The Canada-India MoU to promote and expand cooperation in civil aviation in areas such as aviation safety, security, policy, and regulations. 

Our team looks forward to gaining a deeper awareness of the opportunities in India and taking advantage of many networking and partnership development opportunities. 

I personally look forward to meeting and working with you and to exploring innovative business solutions that can benefit both our countries.   

The writer is Canada’s Minister of Transport. He was earlier an astronaut who went on to become President of the Canadian Space Agency, before entering politics