Distinguished members of the committee, thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my views on the comprehensive economic partnership agreement, CEPA, that is currently under negotiation with India.
I've been doing business with India in the IT-enabled services space since 2002. Three years back we set up Starling Corporation with a focus on working with small and medium-sized enterprises interested in engaging in the Canada-India corridor.
I've had the privilege of being president of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, board member of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, chair of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, and now I sit on the board of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Today, however, I'm here as the CEO of Starling Corporation.
Seeing the growth rate, the demographics, and the booming middle class in India, I firmly believe that having India as part of our global strategy is very important. However, it is time to move from “why India?” to “how India?” We have to ensure that we get the India file right.
While signing a CEPA with India is a critical step in the right direction, I believe there are other important aspects to be kept in mind to help SMEs meanwhile to grow and continue building a strong economic relationship with India. For example, companies that operate in the largely deregulated areas are currently making good progress without CEPA and FIPA. Where these agreements will be important is in enabling the very same SMEs to get into the heavily regulated part of the market.
In my opinion it is important to ensure that we have a high-quality agreement in a reasonable time that is strategic not just for today's relationship but also one that will be able to access to tomorrow's opportunities as well.
Canada has a large geographic area with diversified interests, meaning that we cannot have a one-size-fits-all strategy in the partnership agreement. This, I believe, also holds good for India. In particular, it would be productive to address the individual province-state concerns to maximize the engagement under the agreement. Having regional strategies for India should be an integral part of this agreement. We cannot afford to limit the potential of a good deal just to meet an artificial deadline. The outcome has to be fair to both parties.
In the meantime we need to focus on helping our SMEs prepare for what will be required when CEPA happens. We need to address at the practical level what should be done to ensure that business activities continue to grow in this corridor.
I also believe that if you were to address this relationship on a purely economic basis, we might lose. We must find out what Canada needs to bring to the table in respect of what India wants, and also prepare what we need to ask of India to help us build a sustainable partnership and put us ahead of the other countries. We can then try to develop our relationship on the back of that unique proposition.
Thank you.