CEO forum on the anvil

India and Canada have agreed to explore collaboration in the area of export credit insurance through Export Credit Guarantee Corporation Ltd (ECGC) and Export Development Canada (EDC).

Both ECGC and EDC are members of the Berne Union (BU), an international association representing the global export credit and investment insurance industry.

Canada also proposed for possible cooperation with their Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC).

The other issues such as early institutionalization of the CEO Forum mechanism, issue of extension of derogation of pulses, etc. were also discussed.

These were agreed during the 4th India-Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment was held in New Delhi 13 Nov 2017.

The Indian Delegation was led by the Minister for Commerce and Industry, Suresh Prabhu while the Canadian side was headed by the Minister for International Trade, François-Philippe Champagne.

The talks were held in a friendly and encouraging atmosphere covering a host of trade and investment issues.

Both sides recognized that the current bilateral trade is much below the potential between the two world’s robust economies, despite the huge untapped potential for two-way trade and investment.

Both sides noted the progress made during the 10th Round of the India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) held in August, 2017 and expressed their strong commitment for taking forward negotiations for early conclusion.

India also highlighted the importance of Services Component under CEPA. Both sides also noted the exchange of wish lists on the Services front and the Indian side reiterated that the architecture for Services under CEPA is a vital focus area and response from Canada on positive elements has to be mutually beneficial.

The Canadian side assured that they would look into the issues concerned, including movement of natural persons and what kind of provisions could be built into the CEPA.

The Ministers directed the Chief Negotiators to discuss and explore ways for early conclusion of the Agreement.

Both sides also took note of the progress made under the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) and expressed their hope for an early conclusion.

Also, both sides deliberated on possible cooperation between the supporting agencies concerned, for mutual benefit as well as finding these agencies contributing directly or indirectly for promoting mutual trade interests. fii-news.com