India, Canada to ink investment pact soon

India and Canada are “close” to concluding the longpending bilateral Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPPA), according to Canadian minister of international trade François-Philippe Champagne.

Champagne was speaking at the Canada India Business Symposium, organised by the IndoCanada Chamber of Commerce and Indo-Canadian Business Chamber in Toronto. The minister indicated further progress on a date to complete the process was made as he met finance minister Arun Jaitley on the margins of the OECD ministerial council meeting in Paris earlier this month. Champagne had also visited India in March this year.

He said both sides wanted to ensure FIPPA “is concluded and brought into force as quickly as possible, as we have made good progress on that front”. While pointing to increased growth in two-way trade between the countries, he said, “It’s just the tip of the iceberg of what’s possible.”

Speaking at the same event, Indian high commissioner Vikas Swarup said, “Canada cannot find a better partner than India.”

As Canada struggles in dealing with the Donald Trump administration south of its border, Swarup noted that India has a market of 750 million people. “You need a market which can compete with the US market, because that’s the market Canada is obsessed with,” he said. The symposium also featured around 150 Indian companies, and their presence was facilitated by the Canadian high commission in New Delhi as Ottawa’s envoy Nadir Patel wanted to mark 150 years of his country’s confederation by bringing a symbolic number of business delegates to Toronto to confer with Canadian industry, associations and decision-makers.