Mayor Crombie welcomes Consul General Dinesh Bhatia to City Hall.
For Immediate Release
May 19th, 2016
Mayor Crombie Welcomes Indian Consul General Dinesh Bhatia to Mississauga
Mississauga – Today’s official visit by Consul General Dinesh Bhatia is an opportunity to further strengthen relations between Mississauga and Indian communities, Mayor Bonnie Crombie said.
Consul General Bhatia was appointed to the Toronto-area diplomatic post in March 2016. Last year Mayor Crombie met with his predecessor Akhilesh Mishra, who has been appointed India’s High Commissioner to Maldives.
“Mississauga is home to an active, engaged and thoughtful Indian population,” Mayor Crombie said. “The Greater Toronto Area is home to more than 500,000 Indo-Canadians.”
“Here you’ll find the third largest South Asian marketplace in North America after Jackson Heights in New York and Devon Avenue in Chicago,” Mayor Crombie added.
During their meetings Mayor Crombie briefed Consul General Bhatia about her first visit to India this past year while taking part in a trade mission.
“In 2006 my predecessor Mayor Hazel McCallion embarked on an important trade mission to India,” Mayor Crombie said. “Building on Mayor McCallion’s work, in February, I participated in Premier Wynne’s 2016 Ontario Business Mission to India.”
“The common thread woven throughout our working meetings with government and business leaders was our people-to-people ties and cultural linkages between Canadian communities like Mississauga with India.”
Ontario has exported $307 million in goods to India and imported $1.6 billion in products from there. Bilateral trade between India and Canada has reached $4.14 billion. India plans to invest over US $1 trillion in infrastructure development to accommodate its fast-growing urban centres.
Our thriving cultural synergies are matched by our economic ones as well, Mayor Crombie said, citing how Mississauga is home to 16 Indian-based businesses that make up Mississauga’s key industry sectors including: information and communications technology; financial services; life sciences; and automotive and aerospace.
“Mississauga is Canada’s second largest life sciences cluster by employment, home to over 400 life science companies employing over 25,000 people,” Mayor Crombie shared with the Consul General, adding that “We are also Canada’s largest aerospace cluster by employment. The aerospace industry employs over 24,000 people in over 220 aerospace companies.”
Mayor Crombie closed her remarks by saying “Working together, we will further promote economic development opportunities, the exchange of knowledge and best practices and celebrate a far greater appreciation and understanding of Canada and India’s enriching cultural traditions and shared values.
“Once again, let me formally recognize and welcome Consul General Bhatia to Mississauga and congratulate you on your new appointment to the Toronto region.”
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