By IANS
New Delhi : Bilateral trade between India and Canada should reach $20 billion by 2012 with increasing investment flows and greater socio-economic cooperation between the corporates of both countries, India's Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said in Montreal Monday.
The minister also said the two countries should strive enough to achieve a $10 billion trade each in goods and services in the next five years.
Kamal Nath, who was addressing an India-Canada CEOs roundtable, stressed on the need for an early conclusion of the stalled Doha round of global trade talks as it would help fuel bilateral economic growth between India and Canada.
"It is heartening that in the last few months, Indian investment in Canada has picked up substantially. Last February, the Aditya Birla Group's Hindalco acquired Novelis for around $6 billion," he said.
"In April, the Essar Group acquired Algoma Steel for $1.7 billion. Last year, the Tata Group had acquired Teleglobe, a telecommunications company, and the Birlas Minacs Worldwide, a BPO firm. This trend is likely to continue. I also hope that more Canadian companies will invest in India to exploit the synergies that exist between the two sides."
Adding that India's economy is currently poised to reach 10 percent growth, he said: "Growth of this magnitude would unleash demand of various kinds. We are now faced with the need for better infrastructure, particularly power, roads, energy, environmental technology and raw materials."
He invited Canadian firms to take this up as a potential opportunity and asked them to invest heavily to benefit both countries' business communities.
To further economic enhancement between each other, India and Canada have also mooted the idea of signing a Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement.