Apart from Information Technology and engineering services, education is another area which offers huge opportunities for mutual cooperation between India and Canada, a Canadian embassy official said today.
"Education is a big market for Canada. We are not only looking at students exchange programmes but also skills training where Canada can contribute", Dennis Abraham, first secretary, Canadian Embassy, Mumbai, said during an interactiove session organised by Bangalore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCIC) here.
A number of Canadian workshops on subjects like climate change and energy have also been organised in India not just for mutual collaboration between students but also professors of both countries, he said.
Touching upon recent agreements between India and Canada on energy with the formation of bilateral working group and also on environment especially waste disposal, Abraham, on a three-day visit to the city, said he had held meetings with top IT and BT (Biotechnology) officials.
The other areas for mutual cooperation that Canada is looking at include communications, life sciences, infrastructure, alternative energy, space, aerospace, agriculture and environment technology, D P Vittal, who heads Canadian trade office in Bangalore said.
Anant R Koppar, past President BCIC, said though bilateral trade between India and Canada had risen to USD 3.9 billion as
against$1.4 billion in 2003-04, the FDI inflows from Canada, which accounted for "just USD 286 million in 2008-09 needed to go up".
He said food processing, in which Karnataka was a pioneer, auto parts and pharmaceuticals were other areas which offered a vast potential for mutual cooperation.
"Since a number of tiny and medium industries exist both in India and Canada, SME segment is another avenue where opportunites can be explored", Koppar said.
N Suresha, assistant director of Karnataka Udyoga Mitra, said recenly 38 projects involving an investment of Rs1,38,000 crore had been cleared by the Karnataka Government including Arcelor Mittal, POSCO steel plant, Shell R&D centre and Tata Elxi, which would be implemented on PPP (Public Private Partnership) basis.
A total of 96,500 acres had been identified for various projects in the state, out of which 49,000 acres had already been notified, he said.
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