India, Canada to unlock full potential of bilateral trade

The Commerce and Industry Ministry has said, India-Canada will re-launch the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations to unlock full potential of bilateral trade. India and Canada held the fifth Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment on Friday. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade of Canada Mary Ng co-chaired the meeting. A range of other bilateral trade and investment issues were discussed during the meeting. The Ministers emphasised that the trade agreement would help in expanding bilateral trade in goods and services through unlocking the potential across sectors.

Canada also agreed to examine expeditiously the request for conformity verification body status to Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority for facilitating Indian organic export products. The Ministers acknowledged the significance of establishing resilient supply chains in critical sectors and exchanged views on collaboration. They emphasised on enhancing cooperation in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, rare earth minerals, tourism, urban infrastructure, renewable energy and mining. They also noted the role of strong people-to-people ties between the two countries.