New Delhi, India, Monday, February 24, 2014

Thank you for your warm welcome. I am delighted to be here in New Delhi and to join you for this meeting.

Together, you are among the leading business people in this dynamic, rapidly-expanding Indian economy, which makes you important business leaders on the global stage.

I would also like to say how pleased I am to be accompanied by such a talented and worthy Canadian delegation. Many are your counterparts in business, industry, government and academia, and I encourage you to seize this opportunity to meet and exchange.

Even in an era of instant, global communications, there is no substitute for face-to-face dialogue and discussion.

That is of course why I am in New Delhi and why I am currently undertaking a State visit to India, which will also bring me to Bangalore and Mumbai.

At first glance, Canada and India may look like a study in contrasts. But as you know, we have important things in common: shared traditions of Parliamentary democracy; a commitment to pluralism; and strong people-to-people ties. More than 1 million Canadians can trace their roots to India—including 500 000 to Punjab and 300 000 to Gujarat.

Let me emphasize the important contributions Indo-Canadians make to our multicultural society, and to our country’s economic, academic and political life.

Here in India, too, Canadians are living, working and travelling in large numbers. Together, our two countries have a long-standing, fruitful relationship, and I am pleased to note that our ties are growing, particularly when it comes to trade and commerce.

Last year, our bilateral trade surpassed $5.8 billion. This represents a 12 per cent increase over 2012 and almost a 40 per cent increase since 2010.

Meanwhile, Canadian investment in India totals $644 million, while Indian investment in Canada is valued at $3.7 billion.

Without a doubt, this is impressive progress, and what’s even more remarkable is the opportunity we have to further our collaboration. This includes in areas of strategic importance to India, such as education and innovation, infrastructure, and food and energy security.

Our respective governments are working together with business leaders to expand our commercial relationship.

Canada shares many of the same priorities as India. Learning and innovation in particular are among the pillars of my mandate as governor general, and in fact they were a focus of my previous career as a teacher and university administrator.

There exists an abundance of data to reinforce the link between education and human development. In the 21st century, the well-being of whole societies will be determined by their ability to learn, to gather and share knowledge, and to innovate.

India, of course, has distinguished itself in learning, particularly in higher education. Canada, meanwhile, is home to some of the world’s best universities and colleges, which together have signed more than 400 agreements to work together with Indian institutions.

Let me share another encouraging number with you: in 2012, more than 13 000 Canadian study visas were issued to Indian students and, in total, there were almost 30 000 Indian students in Canada. This number will only rise as our schools become known in India for offering quality, affordable education in a safe, multicultural environment.

Canada is also committed to helping innovators succeed globally. Through the Start-up Visa Program, we want to help Indian entrepreneurs develop and bring their cutting-edge products, processes, technologies and services to Canada.

We are also supporting Canadian entrepreneurs and companies seeking to expand and succeed in India. Already, more than 600 Canadian companies are actively engaged in this market.

Allow me to highlight in greater detail several important spheres of collaboration.

One is food security and agriculture, in which Canada already plays a significant role here in India. As the largest supplier of pulses and an exporter of more than 1.2 million tonnes of potash to India last year, Canada is helping India meet its food security objectives. Canadian know-how and expertise can help to increase production and reduce spoilage. Opportunities exist for us to collaborate in food storage and processing, as well as in cold chain distribution.

Energy security is another area in which we are working together. Canada supplies India with a modest but growing supply of petroleum, and great potential exists for Canada to become a supplier of LNG. We also have expertise in nuclear, hydro, solar and wind energy. Indians well know this, having benefitted from Canadian hydroelectric expertise for six decades.

Canada is delighted with the entering into force of the Canada-India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, which will allow our firms to work together to supply materials, equipment and technology.

Let me also say a word about infrastructure, one of the most important challenges facing any nation. Besides providing financing and expertise in private-public partnerships, Canadian companies are experienced and capable in engineering and constructing roads, bridges, railways, ports and airports, to name just a few projects.

I could go on. There are of course many more spheres in which Canadians and Indians are collaborating. 

Before I finish, let me emphasize the importance of ensuring all of our peoples are able to benefit from the growing partnership between India and Canada.

As you know, Canada is a country that prides itself not only on excellence, but also on equality of opportunity—and as leaders we have a responsibility to acknowledge and confront the challenge of inequality and the risk that it poses to our shared prosperity.

After all, in the interconnected, globalized world of the 21st century, our collective well-being will be determined not by GDP or by the number of billionaires a nation can claim, but rather by our ability to empower citizens to reach their potential and to contribute to the societies in which they live.

Only by enabling and harnessing that potential will we truly prosper, and build the smarter, more caring nations and the fairer, more just world of which we dream.

With that in mind, I wish you the very best as you work to build partnerships and prosperity between India and Canada. 

Thank you.