Canadian Federal Minister of International Trade Edward Fast on Friday evinced interest in collaborating with Punjab for the cultivation of canola oil and providing technical know-how in the field of solar energy, power generation from biomass and dairying.
A high-level Canadian delegation led by Edward Fast called on Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, also assured him to resolve all pending bilateral issues of trade, commerce and agriculture related to the State of Punjab on top priority.
The Canadian Minister suggested an inbuilt mechanism to be mutually developed by both the partners to put these proposals or projects in the fast mode of implementation.
He apprised Badal about cordial ties between Punjabis and Canadians since long time besides enormous contribution of Punjabi immigrants in the overall socio-economic development of Canada.
Taking part in the deliberations, Fast promised the Chief Minister to resolve the issue for setting up proposed Food Development Centre (FDC) in Punjab at the earliest on the lines of one set up in Winnipeg, Manitoba in the spirit of MoU already signed between the Province of Manitoba Canada and Punjab Government during June 2009. He also evinced keen interest in collaborating with Punjab for the cultivation and promotion of Canola, in which Canada had an enviable position in the world market. Fast also expressed his desire to collaborate with the Punjab Government for the production of Canola oil, which has been emerging as the best cooking oil in the international market.
likewise, the Canadian Federal Minister also showed keen interest in providing technical know-how in the field of solar energy, power generation from biomass and dairying. He also put forth a proposal to initiate a skill development training programme for the youth by forging collaboration with technical institutes in Punjab as per requirement of manpower in different sectors especially industry, hospitality and paramedics.
Agreeing to the proposal of Chief Minister, Fast said that these meetings should not be merely a formality rather these must be result-oriented and the deliberations held during these meetings on various aspects and proposals be meticulously followed up in order to crystallise the exchange of ideas between the partners into actions.
Earlier, Badal called upon the Canadian delegation to forge collaboration between Punjab Agricultural University and their premier agriculture university or an institute of excellence in developing climate resilient varieties of wheat, canola and chickpea, enhancing shelf life of vegetables, developing disease resistant and high protein and iron content wheat, precision agriculture for efficient use of inputs.
Badal also impressed upon the visiting delegation to seek technical collaboration for an efficient utilisation of abundant stock of biomass (paddy straw) for the generation of power besides exchange of technical knowledge for adoption of the best practices in power generation transmission and distribution.
He also sought cooperation from Canadian government for sharing their best practices to provide basic civic amenities and services to urban population and requisitioned the services of technical experts providing such services.
Meanwhile, the Food Processing Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon also sought technical collaboration from the Canadian delegation in the food handling management, developing green house technology for cultivation of vegetables and establishing cold chains to prolong the shelf life of vegetables.