Canada Calls: Plays the 'US' card

NEW DELHI: Bedazzled by the Indian success in the IT arena, Canadian states like Quebec have now started to target Indian companies for setting up base in Canada.



A high-power business mission from the Canadian province of Quebec was in India to project the state as a partner for the future to Indian Inc. Leading the delegation, ministry of economic and regional development, Quebec assistant deputy minister, Marc Ferland spoke with Zia Askari from CyberMedia News about the objectives of the high-profile mission to India and how a country like Canada can strengthen its IT activity with Indian companies.





What are the areas where India and Canada can partner in general and Quebec in particular?


We are looking forward to partnering with India within three prime areas - the multimedia industry, the IT industry and the biotechnology industry. Canada is well known for its multimedia skills the world over and within Quebec itself there are close to 3,500 people working for 275 companies in the multimedia sector.


Quebec alone employs more than 1,40,000 people in IT working for close to 5,000 IT companies. This kind of environment has pushed us to generate close to $ 5.5 billion in terms of exports to the US. Indian companies looking forward to developing alliances for the US market can seriously look towards setting their base in Quebec and formulate partnerships with our companies in the areas of R&D and marketing.

What is the missing link between Indian and Canadian companies despite India, sharing good business relationships with many US companies?

Indian companies started to work closely with the US because of the huge market for IT services and products. Whereas, we don't have that kind of huge market, but at the same time the cost of living and operational cost is pretty much on the lower side when compared to any US location.



We already have big companies like Ericsson, Nortel, and other global organizations. So, now is the ideal time for Indian companies to set up base in Canada and partner with global companies on various fronts of R&D and marketing. This can help them in further by cutting their operating costs and they will be very close to US based customers.





What kind of incentives are you going to provide for Indian companies?



We are working on a single-window clearance concept and have designed a Website that provides all the needed information for companies planning to set up base in Quebec.



There are incentives being given by the government on various fronts like land, energy, electricity and high-speed connectivity. Canadian way of life is much cheaper when compared to other countries like the US. So close proximity to the US and lower operating costs are the twin benefits of setting up operations in Canada.





What kind of response have you seen from the Indian IT and biotechnology sectors so far?



We are getting great response from the Indian IT as well as biotechnology sector. In the coming months, we are expecting good number of Indian companies to start their Canadian operations and work in tandem with some of the best Canadian companies.



With bioinformatics being seen as the new paradigm that could offer cures for diseases, Quebec is keen to develop expertise in this area. India, with its well-recognized skills in IT, is seen as a good talent pool to attract talented youngsters to migrate. An estimated 30,000 Indians migrate to Canada annually but only a small number head for Quebec, with Toronto and Vancouver as the preferred places of residence. So we have a lot of scope of increasing immigrations in this part of Canada.


To facilitate faster flow of information about Quebec, we are exploring possibilities of opening a country office in India, and we hope that India will do the same in the near future.