New Delhi, March 9 (Agency) Seeking to bolster trade ties between India and Canada, the two countries will hold the fifth Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment (MDTI) this week. Canada’s Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development Mary Ng will be visiting New Delhi from March 10-13 to hold the dialogue. The meeting will be co-chaired by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. “During the MDTI meeting various bilateral trade and investment issues will be discussed in order to further strengthen the bilateral ties and economic partnership including India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA),” Commerce Ministry said.
India and Canada are engaged in negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to enhance bilateral trade. The Commerce Ministry said that there has been a strong recovery in bilateral trade in 2021 with bilateral trade in goods reaching $ 6.29 billion registering a growth rate of 12 per cent as compared to the previous year. “Total bilateral trade including goods and services crossed $ 11 billion. In current financial year during April 2021-January 2022, Indian exports to Canada have increased to $ 3 billion approximately registering a growth of almost 25 per cent over the previous year,” the Ministry said. Major Indian exports to Canada include drugs and pharmaceutical products, iron and steel products, marine products, cotton fabrics and readymade garments (RMG) and chemicals etc, while key Canadian exports to India comprise pulses, fertilizers, coal and crude petroleum among others.