With the pandemic situation improving, a delegation of over 35 Indian IT companies is visiting Canada to explore business expansion opportunities including the possibility of serving around 50 countries through Canada.
Nasscom Vice President Shivendra Singh said the visit, spearheaded by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), is part of the industry body’s ongoing strategic partnership with the Canadian government.
“Indian IT companies have increased their footprint in Canada with four new expansions announced in 2021 alone,” he said.
Overall, Indian IT companies in Canada are already creating more than 20,000 jobs and helping Canadian companies compete in the global market, he added.
Acting High Commissioner for Canada to India Deirdre Kent said the visit will provide a great opportunity for Indian companies to explore the benefits that Canada has to offer to expand their business through partnerships, innovations and access to international markets. Had it. “By based in Canada, today’s global-minded Indian technology companies can access 51 international markets, 1.5 billion consumers and a combined GDP of $51 trillion through 15 Canadian trade agreements,” he said.
Mr Singh said Canada has always been linked with the US market, but this time the focus was only on Canada and NASSCOM had received interest from around 100 companies to be part of the engagement. Most of the participating companies were small and medium enterprises (SMEs) ranging in size from ₹5-7 crores to ₹250 crores.
“India and Canada share a strong complementarity between their well-developed IT ecosystems. They also host a strong and diverse start-up ecosystem. There are excellent opportunities for cooperation between India and Canada in many areas such as AI, sustainable technologies, digital healthcare, agri-tech and clean technologies,” Mr. Singh said.
He added that the Canadian market was a very important market in the North American region. “Typically, the model has been that Indian tech companies want to serve the US market through Canada. So if you are looking at New York, Toronto is about an hour from New York, Seattle is very close to Vancouver. On the Canadian side a lot of the action happens within 100km of the US border,” he said.
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