Harper attended a
business roundtable in New Delhi, intended to showcase 14 trade and investment
agreements that "demonstrate the increasing depth of the Canada-India
relationship," Prime Minister
Stephen Harper participated in a business roundtable in New Delhi.
International Trade Minister Ed Fast emerged
from the meeting to say that $2.5 billion in new business deals with India are
now in the works. Some of that, he conceded, is in the form of memoranda of
understanding – not cash in the bank.
The largest deal was a previously
announced $1.2-billion agreement between Montreal's La Coop fédérée and Indian
Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (IFFCO) to build a urea production plant (used
for nitrogen fertilizer) in Bécancour, Que., creating 200 local jobs. Another
technology research deal between Prairie Pulp & Paper Inc. of Winnipeg and
Central Pulp & Paper Inc. from Saharanpur, India, will see a new wheat
straw-based pulp and paper plant built in Manitoba, representing a $500-million
to $600-million investment. Montreal's Bombardier was also highlighting two deals:
a new $200-million contract from Mumbai Railway Vikas
Corporation to design and
manufacture equipment for 72 commuter trains with 12 cars each operating on the
Mumbai suburban rail network, on top of another deal with the Delhi Metro Rail
Corporation for 614 cars, worth over $900 million. Fast referred to the
business environment in India as "opaque" and "byzantine."
He added that a foreign investment protection agreement, which is one of the
government's main goals, is still not ready to sign, even after eight years of
negotiation. The two nations have yet to agree on the strings attached to
Canada selling India uranium under a 2-year-old nuclear deal.
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