Canada keen on collaborative projects in India

KOLKATA: Canada is keen on investing in joint projects with India especially in tourism, agriculture, IT and education sectors.

At a meeting with a multi-sectoral gathering organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) here today, a delegation of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), which included some senators and MPs of Canadian Parliament, said the size of trade between the two countries had grown to 5.2 billion dollars last year from 1.75 billion dollars in 2010.

"By 2015, this (trade between the two countries) is expected to touch 15 billion dollars, a target set by the Canadian Prime Minister," Russel Hiebert, MP, said.

There was immense scope of widening ties in education and agriculture sectors between India and Canada, he said.

The opportunity in education sector lay in the fact that in India 500 million people are under 25 years of age and to cope up with the added demand of quality education it needs another 1,000 universities for which the two countries could collaborate.

There was scope of partnership between the two countries in the agriculture sector as 24 per cent of pulses consumed in India are grown in Canada.

Canada, he said, would like to offer technological collaboration in the area of exploration natural gas for which India has got abundant resources.