International Trade Committee on Nov. 29th, 2012

[C.J. Helie]

The Canada Border Services Agency, on our behalf, would look at the certificate of origin, and it's the same thing with other customs officials.

We just ran into an issue in New Zealand. That's a developed market, but still, what happened was that a customs official noticed that the certificate of origin did not look like the other ones he had seen previously. They found out that, no, it was not even Canadian whisky; it was contraband material. It never entered the market, never hit the retail shelf, and never undermined our brands in that market.

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS]

Very quickly, I think there were two other points made that deserve to be repeated.

Mr. Bajaj, you mentioned that the average wage in India has tripled over the past...how many years? I wasn't certain on the number of years.

[Naval Bajaj]

I don't remember the exact number of years, but I think I can say, if I'm not mistaken, that it's in the last 10 to 15 years—

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS]

Wow.

[Naval Bajaj]

One of the things to look at on those stats is very interesting. India also realizes how important the global market is for India, although it's a tough economy, a tough market, to enter. Going back to the eighties, when there was a government that decided to pull out when it came to some of the foreign companies, the growth of India went down by 1%.

After that, in the mid-eighties or mid-nineties, when current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the finance minister, the government at that time started the ball rolling. It started from 3.4%. As you know, in 2010 we had a 10% GDP growth. Now the number has fallen, but at the same time, that growth is much higher than what we can imagine. I think that's just....

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS]

Yes, it's without question. I was in India three years ago now, and I would have to say that “vibrant” is what I would call the marketplace. It's fascinating and almost intimidating in some areas.

Before I turn it over to Mr. Shory, there is another thing that has not been mentioned and that needs to be mentioned. It's the advantage here of the east coast ports, and of the Port of Halifax in particular. Through the Suez Canal, it's the port in Canada that is closest to the Indian marketplace. We often overlook that. Here we have an opportunity to tremendously expand trade between Canada and India at a huge benefit to eastern Canada. Do you want to comment on that quickly?

[Devinder Shory, Conservative, Calgary Northeast, AB]

No—the time is gone.

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS]

Devinder says my time is gone.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS]

That's all right.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

You'll pass it to Devinder.

Go ahead.

[Naval Bajaj]

I think I also made the point when I was speaking that it's not just about trade between the two countries. When it comes to India, Canadian companies can look at getting access to the entire South Asian market. It's the same thing for Indian companies. Once this starts building up, they'll look at Canada and then North America.

At the end of the day, we are the middle person. It's helping our economic development. If this port works out, it helps, again, our job creation and our development.

It's the same thing for India. India is spending too much money on.... If you visit Gujarat, you'll see that they are spending money on the port. In Maharashtra, they're spending. They have also realized all of this and they are investing for the future.

Do you know why Gujarat state, the province, is spending so much money on the port? They know that this is the closest port for them to most of the countries, so everything will go through them. Any government that is looking at the future and investing their money out there is developing better than the other provinces.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Shory is going to have to wait a little.

We're going to go with Mr. Morin and Madame Papillon, very quickly, for a couple of questions, and then we'll finish it off with Mr. Shory.

[Marc-André Morin, NDP, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Mr. Bajaj, how important are the market conditions in India compared to those of Canada or Japan or any other country? We have a lot of catching up to do in understanding India. First, we thought it was here...my Mohawk grandmother was an Indian.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Marc-André Morin, NDP, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

That might sound funny, but it isn't.

The Indian marketplace is very particular. There's a lot of microeconomy, I believe. There are no supply chains like we have here, or in Japan, let's say, or in a European country. How realistic is it for a smaller enterprise to enter that market?

[Naval Bajaj]

On that note, during the break, you and I were speaking about milkmen and how the supply is happening at the dairies and all of that. For me, I was born and brought up in India, and I can tell you about some of the things. If you were to go back 30 or 40 years to the way farming was done, you would see the bullocks and humans doing the farming. Now, most of them have moved to tractors.

I think that in India entrepreneurship is a big thing. Most people want to have their small business, but this is looking at whether the glass is half empty or half full. Having the opportunity of the supply chain, which I think is where we come into it, into a role, because Canada has the technology and the supply chain.... I think, again, that it's just about how we can brand it.

The best example I will give you of how a Canadian entrepreneur has to look at it is the Aakash tablet, done by Mr. Tuli, which costs, what, $30 or $40? It's done in Canada, but the market today for the Aakash tablet is much higher than what is in Canada. We might not know what an Aakash tablet is, but if you go to the Indian market, any student will know what it is. In fact, the company is not able to manufacture what the Indian market needs. There is always a shortage.

For the Canadian companies, the challenge will be to find something that fits the Indian market and then enter the Indian market, which, again, is going to help our economy.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Thank you very much.

The real question is, do they know what a BlackBerry is?

[Naval Bajaj]

You know what? The BlackBerry's biggest market is in India.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

That's very good.

Madame Papillon, go ahead.

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

It's a good question. You'll see.

Mr. Bajaj, your organization met with the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council of India in 2012, regarding diamond trade between Canada and India. Canada is the world's third largest diamond producer, and India is the largest importer of rough diamonds. And yet there is minimal trade in diamonds between the two countries.

Why is that and what can we do to change things?

[Naval Bajaj]

What a good question you've asked me. I am very happy that you've asked me this question.

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

It's my pleasure.

[Naval Bajaj]

I can go on and on with this one, because we, as a chamber—

[Voices]

Oh, oh!