Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has vowed further economic and investment1 cooperation with Canada but turned down the demand for granting special treatment to Canadian pension funds.
In a meeting with Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Canada’s Foreign Minister John Baird and Canada’s Central Bank Governor Mark Carney, Chidambaram said India and Canada should tap the potential for cooperation in areas such as trade, economy and investment to benefit the two countries and their people.
He discussed with them the economic situation in India and the steps taken by the Government to attract foreign investment.
Chidambaram urged Canada to promote India as an investment destination and encourage its pension funds to invest in the country.
Trade, economic cooperation
Both sides have agreed to expand trade and economic cooperation and stressed the need to accelerate early conclusion of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPPA), official sources had said yesterday.
Both sides expressed satisfaction and welcomed the ongoing negotiations on CEPA and stressed the need for an early conclusion of FIPPA, the sources said.
Chidambaram left Ottawa for Boston yesterday, following his original schedule despite the bomb attacks that killed three and injured over 170 people at the Boston Marathon on Monday.
Incentive for pension funds
The Finance Minister turned down the demand of Canadian pension plan chiefs to grant them special treatment.
The Minister is learnt to have ruled out such an incentive, stating that it would violate the right to equality as outlined in Article 14 of the Constitution.
Chidambaram opined that with India extending the most favoured nation (MFN) status to several countries, it could not give special concessions to Canadian funds.
Instead, he pointed out the principles of Anglo0American jurisprudence, shared by India and Canada, maintaining that would be a strong protection for Canadian investors.
The pension plans represented at the meeting were the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB); the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OMERS); PSP Investments and Caisse de Depot.
They collectively manage around half a trillion dollars, and have emerged as large-scale investors around the world in recent years.