FTCCI pitches Canadian investors to invest in Telangana

Hyderabad Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTCCI) organized an interactive meet in Hyderabad to showcase the enormous advantage that Telangana offers to investors in ease of doing business. It also explored investment opportunities in Canada and Canada as a market for Telangana products and services.

The interactive session saw participation from corporate and industry from Telangana region including Benoit Prefontaine, Consul General of Canada and Kenneth Wong, Senior Trade Commissioner, South India, Consulate General of Canada in Bangalore.

Benoit Prefontaine, Consul General of Canada, said: "The city of Hyderabad has changed a lot in the last 2 decades. The infrastructure the city provides is of global standards. We have not done enough in propagating and promoting Canada as an investment destination especially in South India. Up north of India Canada is fairly known and we have many entrepreneurs, employees and students from here. At the same time Canadian companies and entrepreneurs don't know much about opportunities and regions in South India. We are in the process of creating awareness and changing perception about South India among Canadian people and business. We are interested to partner with South States specially the city of Hyderabad and Telangana state in IT/ITES, life sciences / pharma/ aero space. The state of Telangana offers us a huge scope to invest and expand. The proposed Canada- India Free Trade Agreement will be a game changer."

Anil Aggarwal, Senior Vice President, FTCCI, said: "FTCCI organized this interactive meet to explore investment opportunities in Canada and to showcase what the state of Telangana offers to Canadian enterprises. The state has been making rapid strides in various fields which among others include IT / ITES, pharma, defense services, manufacturing, agri and dairy products. We would like to explore Canada as a market for Telangana products and services at the same time want to show the enormous advantage the state offer to investors in ease of doing business, technology hub like T hub and We hub."

Kenneth Wong, Senior Trade Commissioner, South India, Consulate General of Canada in Bangalore, said: "Canada offers interesting immigration and trade programs which need to be promoted especially in South India. Canada's economic partnership with India is a $100 billion relationship. Indian students currently in Canada are double the number of Chinese students and numbered above 2 lakhs. There is a considerable backlog related to Visa processing because of the shutdown of our operations due to Covid-19, we hope that by the end of 2022 things will be back to normal."