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“I shared with Prime Minister Modi that there are rich opportunities for partnership between India and Prince Edward Island, including a strong fit for many of our high quality Island products and services," the Premier said. "The Prime Minister spoke of his commitments to skills, clean energy, and sustainable food and agriculture."

The Island delegation has met with government and business leaders in the capital of New Delhi and the City of Chandigarh, which is one of 100 Indian cities being made more sustainable under Prime Minister Modi’s Smart Cities Mission. Premier MacLauchlan met with senior Ministers and officials as well as leaders in business and education from the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana. ‎

"We have taken important strides with these face-to-face meetings and look forward to pursuing these opportunities and relationships," added the Premier.

Among other successes so far:

• the Premier and Economic Development and Tourism Minister Heath MacDonald met with leaders from software company Aark Infosoft – based in Ahmedebad – who announced they intend to open their first North American office in Prince Edward Island beginning this spring, creating new skilled jobs;

• the Province has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Canadian Nectar Products that will send apples grown in eastern Prince Edward Island to markets in India and Asia; and

• the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) signed MOU’s with Chitkara University and the Pubjab Agricultural University, which will facilitate exchanges of faculty and students and collaboration on research and programming.

Representatives from Aspin Kemp and Associates, Coles Associates, Portsmouth Atlantic, and the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) accompanied the Premier and Minister MacDonald to India. They are participating in partnering meetings focused on cultivating relationships with India in renewable energy, sustainable development, food products, and post-secondary education.

This joint mission with the Province of Ontario is intended to confirm recent Indian business investments in Prince Edward Island and generate new investment – as well as encouraging new applications to the Start-Up Visa program through LaunchPad PEI. It is part of ongoing efforts to promote Prince Edward Island goods, services, and expertise in India and other emerging markets.

“I have no doubt that teaming up with Premier Wynne and her Ontario delegation will open doors for Prince Edward Island products and companies,” the Premier said. “With Canada’s smallest and largest provinces working together, it shows once again that small can be big.”

Meetings will continue in the cities of Hyderabad and Mumbai through the rest of this week. Minister MacDonald also held meetings in the City of Bangalore.

Backgrounder

Aark Infosoft builds integrated software solutions in areas such as e-governance, enterprise, ecommerce, website, and mobile applications. Aark Infosoft has received a major contract for the digitization of a publication library from a major US-based publisher. With this increase in business, Aark has identified Prince Edward Island as a strong location to expand and increase their sales in the North American market. The company is located in Ahmedabad within the state of Gujarat and employs 200 – 250 individuals. This North American expansion will add value to the operation in India and enable Aark to recruit talented individuals that are difficult to find in the local market, primarily in the area of quality assurance www.aark.co.in.

Canadian Nectar Products (CNP) is in the business of developing, planting, growing, farming and harvesting various types of fruit trees, specializing in apple varieties, and exports fruit to various world and local markets in Canada. It is establishing a 1,000 acre apple operation in Prince Edward Island by attracting investors to participate in the development. In 2014, 140 acres were planted with an additional 100 acres planned. It is the largest orchard in Atlantic Canada and the fourth-largest in Canada. President and CEO, Dr. Amarjeet Jatana, has 30 years of experience in the apple business in the United States, Chile, Quebec, and India www.cnpge.com.

Chitkara University is a private university in North Indian, offering comprehensive and integrated multidisciplinary full time degree programs in diverse academic field including: Engineering, Business Management, Nursing and Healthcare, Hospitality, Architecture, Mass Media and Communications, Education and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research. The university has almost 10,000 full time students and nearly 500 international students from over nine countries and more than 600 tenured faculty members. The University of Prince Edward Island and Chitkara University renewed an MOU for the purposes of furthering cooperation in education and academic fields to explore the establishment of exchange programs and collaborative research/study opportunities for both students and faculty members. They agreed to work together in the areas of engineering, business, science, math and computational science, nursing, environmental science and leadership and culture www.chitkara.edu.in.

The Punjab Agricultural University is located in Ludhiana City, Punjab State in northwest India. The PAU performs the integrated functions of teaching, research and extension in agriculture, agricultural engineering, home science and allied disciplines. The PAU has played a key role in increasing food grain production in the Punjab State. It has also made notable contributions in increasing livestock and poultry production. The Punjab Agricultural University has four constituent colleges: College of Agriculture, College of Agricultural Engineering, College of Home Science and College of Basic Sciences and Humanities. The university, through 28 departments in the four constituent colleges, offers 31 Master's and 30 Ph.D. programmes. The University Prince Edward Island and Punjab Agricultural University signed an MOU to collaborate in programming and research for sustainable design engineering and plant biology www.pau.edu.