April 2011 Trade delegation led by Surrey Trade and Investment Board
Left to right: Councillor Tom Gill, Mayor Dianne Watts, Councillor Linda Hepner and Councillor Barinder Rasode visited the high-voltage lab of B.C. Hydro subsidiary Powertech before leaving for India.
The pile of papers marked 'India' on the corner of Mayor Dianne Watts' desk has not stopped growing since last fall.
"It is now about three inches high," said Watts, who has been weeding out the "maybes" from the "solids" since Surrey announced last September details of the Mayor's Business Mission to India.
If this stack of inquiries and requests for meetings on the mayoral desk is any yardstick, Surrey's first-of-its-kind business mission to India, beginning next week, is already a success.
"The number of requests for meetings by Indian companies is a reflection of India's phenomenal growth," said Watts, who will play corporate matchmaker in a whirlwind trip that will take her delegation to some of India's most dynamic cities.
The delegation will visit seven Indian cities -Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ludhiana -during their 11-day passage through India.
The Mayor's Business Mission to India is designed to facilitate business deals between local and Indian companies to achieve investment and job creation in Surrey, and to open market opportunities for local companies in India.
The City of Surrey has many connections to the country of India, both socially and economically, and we continue to identify ways to recognize, celebrate and further our bond with the world's largest democracy," said Watts, who was elected in 2005 as the city's first female mayor.
"While many government-led business/ trade missions are looking to China, Watts and her team are taking a made-in-Surrey approach, "designed to deliver the best results for our residents and business owners."
The budget for the trip is $128,000, which includes advanced planning in Canada and India, as well as travel costs for the mayor, three councillors - Linda Hepner, Tom Gill and Barinder Rasode and three staff members. >
It's a bargain for the taxpayers considering the team's target.
"In fact, we're setting a bold but achievable target to achieve $20 million in direct economic generation to Surrey resulting from the mis-sion, which is extremely targeted in its business-to-business objectives," said Watts.
The business-centric trip has also garnered positive press in India over the last month.
The wire agency, India Abroad News Service described Surrey in a story about the upcoming visit, as "one of the most important Canadian cities from the Indian perspective,"
The Hindustan Times reported that Watts is "heading a group of CEOs from some of Canada's most powerful companies to explore opportunities in India for business."
The Chandigarh Press Club, one of India's leading journalistic institutions has invited the mayor to speak at a special luncheon, an honour that has been previously accorded to
Prime Ministers and ambassadors.
News of the visit has also intrigued a princess who has invited Watts for tea at her palace, while the mayor is especially looking forward to a visit to Sikhism holiest shrine - the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
"I am particularly looking forward to taking the opportunity to pay my respects at the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) when I am in the city of Amritsar. I know that my visit to Harmandir Sahib will be a very spiritual and meaningful one."
But tea with a princess and the spiritual journey aside, Watts is trying to cram in a few more meetings as of this week.
"My No. 1 priority for this mission remains the economy, including working toward achieving access to India's wood market for Surrey forestry companies," she said.
"With a port and Canada's second largest border crossing, manufacturing and exporting are critical sectors for our city, and I am happy we have secured significant meetings with both elected officials and companies in India in order to create jobs and foster economic growth for the region."
"I'm pleased the CEOs of some of the most dynamic wood manufacturing companies in B.C. are participating on this mission, and I look forward to achieving real advancements in positioning B.C. companies at the forefront of the rapidly expanding Indian wood market."
Surrey's mission to India comes amid calls by India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the nation's 27-million strong global Indian Diaspora to have "deeper engagement" in his country's development process.
The Indian economy is expected to record 8.5 per cent growth this year while Canada has made a commitment with India to raise bilateral trade to $15 billion within next five years. The bilateral trade between the two countries is now just over $4 billion per year.
Presently, around 250 small and big Canadian companies operate in India. Ottawa's objective is to have at least 750 Canadian companies in India.
For Rob Mackie, chairman of bioLytical Laboratories, the mission provides a pedestal to search out potential government and private partners to establish an assembly plant in India.
The company produces a rapid HIV test that was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The INSTI HIV Rapid Antibody Test, which is available in more than 50 countries, is designed to detect antibodies to HIV-1 and HIV-2 in one minute. The next fastest tests take 20 minutes
Some 2.5 million Indians are HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) positive, and the country's northeast accounts for about 45,000 such people. There are fears of a worsening AIDS epidemic, especially because of the country's huge migratory labour force and transient population.
"I want to build an assembly and packaging plant in India to make the instant test kit widely available at an affordable rate," said Mackie, adding the facility will hire about 100 people.
"Ninety per cent of the infections can be tackled with seek and treat programs," said Mackie, whose test kits are robust enough to be transported around India easily.
"We have spent millions on developing this test kit and now is the time to get it out to as many people as possible in the most affordable way . Given the 31 inquiries from medical companies over the last few weeks, there is tremendous interest in India for our homegrown B.C. product," said Mackie.
Education is one area where Canadian companies can play a big role in India. India needs about $150 billion of investment in the next 10 years to build quality education infrastructure in the country.
Kalyan Sundaram of the Canada India Foundation said astute initiatives by Canadian universities and colleges over the past year will yield impressive results this year in the education sector.
Of the 130,000 students from India who enrol in post-secondary institutions overseas annually, only about 3,500 study in Canada
On the mission are Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Kwantlen Polytechnic University, both of which are looking for partners in India.
Nimal Rajapakse, Dean of Applied Sciences at SFU, said he will be interested in meeting with Indian companies that can accept interns from his university for research and development projects.
In addition to signing a letter of intent with the Chandigarh-based Indian Institute of Technology, SFU will be developing strategic partnerships with select Indian universities to cash in on the huge Indian education market.
The Surrey mission to India has also garnered high praise from private colleges like Sprott-Shaw, which are not on the current trip.
"Trade missions like the one led by Mayor Watts will showcase the educational infrastructure of British Columbia," said Sprott-Shaw president Patrick Dang, whose target is to have 10 educational joint-ventures in various Indian cities over the next few years.
Bollywood, which makes about 2,000 films a year in Mumbai's $1.3 billion industry and the fledgling Indian animation industry are also on the radar of Watts who wants to make Surrey more of a film destination.
Richard Brownsey, president and CEO of B.C. Film said he has his work cut out for him in Mumbai and the IT hub of Bangalore.
"Canada and India are working on a co-production agreement and my objective is to gather market intelligence and analyze the potential for Surrey and the rest of B.C.," said Brownsey, adding he has a large number of meetings lined up during the trip.
"One area we are particularly interested in is looking at Indian and BC companies working together in the field of digital animation," he said.
Robert Park, CEO and president of FINCAD, said the Indian economy is growing strongly, wealth creation is accelerating and its financial markets are maturing.
"As a company that serves the financial services industry this creates an excellent opportunity for FINCAD," he said, adding FINCAD's sales to clients in India have tripled over the past 3 years.
FINCAD has approximately 15 clients and 2 evolving partnerships with two large IT firms in India.
"Given its ethnic diversity and significant well-educated South-Asian population, Surrey can provide an excellent gateway to the North American markets."
Sriram Iyer, president & CEO of ICICI Bank Canada, India's largest private sector bank, said India is a logical trading partner for many Surrey-based businesses because of the linkages that already exist between residents of Indian origin and their networks back in their native country.
"We see this trip as a great opportunity to build relationships by partnering with Canadian companies interested in venturing into the Indian market ... Our expertise and on-the-ground presence in both markets position us as the logical choice to provide guidance and insight to companies looking to invest or start an operation in Canada and in India."
Renewable energy and clean transportation technology are the focus of India's $2.3 trillion energy investment plan over the next two decades.
This bodes well for Cummins Westport Inc. (CWI) which manufactures and sells the world's widest range of low-emissions alternative fuel engines for commercial transportation applications such as trucks and buses
Following the successful demonstration of clean transportation technology in New Delhi of natural gas-fuelled buses powered by Cummins Westport engines, CWI has sold 500 low-floor buses equipped with its engines running on clean burning CNG to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).
This was followed a few months later by an additional purchase order of 3,125 buses.
"Westport is actively looking for Indian corporate partners who are interested in working with us to build the market for alternative fuels in India.
The Surrey Business Mission offers a tremendous opportunity to initiate the first contacts with these potential companies," said Nicholas Sonntag, president of Westport Asia, who will be on the trip.
It has also been estimated that wind energy could meet almost 24 per cent of India's electricity demand by 2030.
Dave Rankin of the Surrey-based Endurance Wind Power, which manufactures wind turbines said India provides several opportunities for both the distribution of his products as well as the manufacturing of component parts.
"By travelling with Mayor Watts and her team, Indian businesses will see the value the city of Surrey places on my company," said Rankin.
For Mayor Watts, this is what the mission to India is all about - thinking locally, acting globally.
THE SURREY ADVANTAGE
Surrey's location on the west coast of North America makes it possible to do business with Asia, Europe and North America in the same business day. The city's connections to major transportation routes include two ports for deep sea shipping; adjacency to two US border crossings; access to two international airports and three railway lines.
Surrey is one of the fastest growing cities in Canada and its population has increased 25 per cent in the last decade. The city's diverse population has strong linkages with India - more than 27% of Surrey's population is of South Asian descent.
As British Columbia's second largest city, Surrey has benefited from more than $5 billion of commercial, industrial and residential construction in the last 5 years.
Surrey has received substantial infrastructure investment from other levels of government due to Surrey's key location in Canada's Pacific Rim trade strategy.
This includes $3.5 billion for a new bridge and transport truck route to improve movement of goods and people. It is also investing $470 million over 5 years in community infrastructure such as libraries, parks and recreation centres.
Surrey offers financial incentives for companies choosing to operate in designated geographic areas. Relocation to Surrey's Economic Investment Zones means no property taxes for three years, Development Cost Charges reduced by 30% and building permit fees reduced by 50%. Surrey's Clean Energy Incentives, include no property tax for three years, building permit fees reduced by 50% and $1 business license fee for 3 years.
Surrey provides a supply of building ready industrial lands located on major transportation routes. The City recently designated 1,900 acres for business park and industrial use in Campbell Heights. It has close to half of the available industrial land in Metro Vancouver region and offers partnerships with Surrey's land development corporation to leverage Cityowned land.
Surrey is home to 2 universities. Simon Fraser University (SFU) is consistently ranked as one of Canada's top research universities. Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) offers a variety of programs, including world-class trades training. The last Canada census in 200 stated nearly half (47.4%) of Surrey's residents 15 years and over had earned some form of post secondary qualification (including trades or apprenticeships).
Surrey's culturally diverse population, vibrant communities and parks provide an enviable place to live. The city has 7,800 acres of parks and protected open spaces - the equivalent of over nine Central Parks in New York. The average price for a detached home in Surrey is up to 33% less than the regional average. A burgeoning arts sector is also developing in Surrey, meeting demand created by the fastgrowing population.
Surrey is the 2nd largest city in British Columbia. With the current population of 472,000, Surrey would rank as the 37th largest city in the United States. Surrey's growth rate averages nearly 10,000 new residents annually and accommodates 18.7% of Metro Vancouver's population. Surrey's has a resident labour force of 230,000, comprising 17% of 20-24 year olds of Greater Vancouver's young population.
British Columbia Film is an independent, not-for-profit society with the mandate to expand and diversify the film, television and digital media sector in British Columbia. Based on Canada's recent announcement to work toward an official co-production agreement between India and Canada, BC Film is aboard the trip to seek film co-productions and to capitalize on the gaming skill-set that both BC and India share.
Ballard is recognized as a world leader in developing, manufacturing and marketing zero-emission hydrogen fuel cells. Ballard Power's product line includes vehicular fuel-cell powertrains, fuel-cell engines, fuelcell power generators, power-conversion systems, electric drive trains, fuel-cell stacks, and carbon materials. Ballard powered the 30-foot tall Olympic Rings that floated on a barge in the Burrard Inlet during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
BioLytical is a Richmond based firm that produces a rapid HIV test developed that was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The INSTI HIV Rapid Antibody Test, which is available in more than 50 countries, is designed to detect antibodies to HIV-1 and HIV-2 in one minute. The next fastest tests take 20 minutes. Company officials have a distribution agreement in India and plan to set up an assembly plant in India.
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP is one of Canada's leading business law firms, established over 150 years ago Blakes has more than 550 lawyers in offices across Canada, New York, Chicago, London, Bahrain, Beijing and Shanghai. Blakes has grown to serve many of Western Canada's most prominent and active financial institutions, investment dealers and commercial enterprises, as well as public sector clients such as crown corporations, and municipal governments.
Coast Clear Wood is a pioneer in the India-BC wood trade market, thanks to the vision of President Tom Sundher. Coast Clear Wood brokered a deal with MacMillan Bloedel (now Western Forest Products) to be its exclusive western Canadian agent of Coastal BC wood to India. Sundher believes that India could be BC's most important Asian market by 2020. Coast Clear currently exports shop-grade wood to India for use in furniture.
Colliers International is the largest commercial real-estate provider in Canada. As one of the first international property consultants to move into India in 1995, they have offices in seven major cities and recognized the value of being in the Indian market much earlier than other global companies. Company officials are using this trip to establish more connections and partnering with the other people in the trade delegation.
Endurance Wind Power, based in Campbell Heights, Surrey, is a manufacturer of advanced wind turbines designed specifically for distributed wind power applications. Endurance's turbines are designed for a variety of applications: residences, small farms, wind power demonstrations, larger farms, irrigation pivots, schools, hospitals and manufacturing and fabrication companies. Endurance has an existing business network in India.
FinancialCAD Corporation (FIN-CAD) serves institutional and corporate participants in the global financial markets and is headquartered in Surrey. FINCAD products services to tens of thousands of financial professionals in more than 4,000 organizations located in over 80 countries around the globe. FIN-CAD has approximately 15 clients and two evolving partnerships with two major IT firms in India.
ICICI Bank Canada is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICICI Bank Limited, which has its headquarters in Mumbai, India. ICICI Bank is India's second-largest bank with a network of 2,049 branches and about 5,546 ATMs in India and presence in 18 countries.
Jhjajj Lumber is a Canadian based wholesaler, exporter and remanufacturer of Canadian whitewood lumber products. India is their next target market. Until recently, the Department of Agriculture in India made it almost impossible for companies from Canada to export SPF (spruce, pine and fir) lumber. However beginning in 2011, they changed the rules making it easy to bring SPF lumber into India.
Kwantlen Polytechnic University is one of the fastest growing in Surrey and is on the mission to try to recruit students from India - one of the largest markets for foreign students in the world. The institution is uniquely positioned to attract students from India because of its location within one of Canada's largest Indian populations. Kwantlen offers bachelor's degrees, diplomas and certificates in more than 120 programs.
KPMG has an extensive network already set up in India. Recognizing the importance of Canadian companies moving into India, KPMG has set up a dedicated team in the Lower Mainland which works with local companies moving into the Indian market. Due to KPMG's extensive network in India, they also have the ability to convince major Indian companies to look toward Canada for clean tech, mining, and many industries.
Mantra Venture Group Limited is a South Surrey based company comprised of three clean-tech and renewable energy subsidiary companies. The company has developed an alternative technology called ERC or Electroreduction of Carbon Dioxide. ERC is one of very few examples of CCR or Carbon Capture and Recyling. Mantra has been in talks with Ispat Industries regarding a demonstration project in Mumbai.
Mill & Timber is a privately owned forest company that was established in 1951. It produces more than 70-million board feet annually for markets in North America, Asia, Australia and Europe. Mill & Timber focuses on cedar - products include decking, fascia, posts and capital beams, rails, dimensional lumber and custom-cut lumber. It sees India's drive to urbanization as a major market of the future.
Nexterra is a Vancouver-based company that's making a name worldwide as a leading maker of biomass gasification systems. It develops, manufactures and delivers advanced gasification systems that enable customers to self-generate clean, low-cost heat and power at industrial and institutional facilities using waste fuels. Nexterra has partnered with some of the world's largest companies including General Electric.
Oxus Nexus is located in Vancouver and offers SRED (Scientific Research and Experimental Development) Tax Credit filing services and Outsourcing consultancy. It is looking to further build its network in India primarily in relation to its Outsource and Subcontracting Consulting service. The company's managing director Upkar Tatlay travelled to India last month to start making connections that will be developed during the Surrey Mission.
The Pallan Group headquartered in Campbell River, focuses on timber acquisitions, logging, sawmilling, remanufacturing, worldwide timber marketing, lumber sales of old growth wood and real estate development. The Pallan family formed its first company in 1959 and has built its reputation on a commitment to sustainable harvesting practices and partnerships with BC First Nations groups.
Powertech Labs is a BC Hydro subsidiary that specializes in clean energy consulting, testing and power solutions. Powertech has a significant role to play in the worldwide expansion of hydrogen fuel stations - something it's working on in cooperation with automotive manufacturers across North America. Powertech's facilities include 21 advanced performance testing laboratories located on an 11-acre campus in Surrey.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is on the Mission to help bridge the gap between companies from Surrey wanting to do business with companies in India. PwC provides companies with the information they need to succeed on issues such as accounting, taxation, managing risk, managing wealth and growing their business. PwC has offices in 757 cities across 151 countries, including Mumbai and Bangalore and employs over 163,000 people.
Simon Fraser University, ranked as one of Canada's top three comprehensive universities for almost 20 years, is home to over 25,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students. It plans to develop partnerships with select Indian universities and wants to seek out Indian companies for internship arrangements. SFU plans to sign a letter of intent with the Indian Institute of Technology in Chandigarh this year.
Sunrise Kitchens/ Chateau Designs wants to put Canadian cabinetry onto the Indian building stage. In the past few years Indian builders have started building modular kitchens into residential developments. Sunrise / Chateau Designs sells direct to homeowners, developers and commercial contractors and says now is the right time for its products in India.
Westport Innovations Inc. is a leading global provider of proprietary technology that allows engines to operate on clean-burning gaseous fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrogen, and biomethane obtained from biogas such as landfill gas. Westport is looking for Indian corporate partners to build the market for alternative fuels in India, especially in the eco-friendly transit industry.
Wok Box is a Surrey company filled with big goals, and young enterprising spirit. The franchise has now grown to 60 retail restaurants across Canada selling Pan Asian cuisine.
Wok Box will soon expand to Dubai and Kuwait after opening an outlet in Beirut. It has been approached by a hotel chain in India which is interested in acquiring licensing rights to bring Wok Box to India and looks at South Asia as a major market.
Yotta Solutions is an industry leader in developing on-demand software applications that help subscribers maintain the most current address databases possible. Yotta Addressing is the first web service in the world to provide real-time global address updates to 240 countries. Yotta is looking for an Indian city to help test a major product they have in development that will be help keep major cities address databases current.
