Contact: Dave Stephen
Phone 604-864-4611
Fax: 604-859-6653
E-mail: dave.stephen@ucfv.ca
April 4, 2005
Premier announces Canada-India Business Innovation Chair at UCFV
Supporters of the University College of the Fraser Valley’s Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies and Research are elated about the recent announcement of provincial government support for a BC Regional Innovation Chair on Canada-India Business and Economic Development.
The BC Regional Innovation Chair at UCFV will be filled by an appointed scholar with substantial expertise in the area of Canada-India economic development. The Chair will serve as an influential resource for decision makers and Canadian businesspeople, including both those who are familiar with the Indian market and those who want to break into it.
Premier Gordon Campbell announced the funding at a special presentation at UCFV’s Abbotsford campus on April 2. He said that a research chair focusing on Canada-India business links was a good match for the Fraser Valley.
“This area has a strong, entrepreneurial, business-oriented community with a South Asian background,” said Premier Campbell. “We know that this new research chair will contribute to the future of B.C.”
Campbell joked about being lobbied by UCFV president Skip Bassford about the proposed chair in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and even in India when both were attending an economic summit there.
“His persistence has been rewarded!”
UCFV President Skip Bassford was delighted at the announcement.
“Much of what we want to accomplish in the Centre focuses on fostering stronger economic ties between Canada and India, and this Chair will certainly help us accomplish that,” said Dr. Skip Bassford, UCFV President. “Support for the establishment of a Chair on Canada-India Business and Economic Development is strong and enthusiastic. It is clear that this Chair will benefit the ongoing social and economic development, not only of the Indo-Canadian community, but also of the community at large. UCFV is completely committed to establishing this vital new resource.”
Bassford thanked the government for its support of post-secondary education.
“We’re blessed with a premier who understands the crucial role advanced education has to play in this economy, and that universities and colleges must provide research and knowledge directly to their communities.”
Parm Bains, head of the endowment committee for the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies and Research, emphasized that the new research chair will strengthen Canada’s ties with an emerging economic giant.
“India has the second-fasted growing economy in the world, and by 2020, it will be one of the five biggest economies worldwide,” he said. “The research chair housed in this Indo-Canadian centre at UCFV will help build strong relationships and deepen our understanding of the ties between our two countries.”
Now that the provincial government has committed $1.25 million of support for the Chair through the independently administered Leading Edge Endowment Fund (LEEF), UCFV is looking to the community and the corporate sector to help make the Regional Innovation Chair a reality. Under the terms of the program, an additional $1.25 million must be raised to match LEEF’s funding before UCFV can gain access to the LEEF funds. The provincial government has committed $56 million to support LEEF initiatives at post-secondary institutions throughout the province.
The matched funds will establish an endowment to fund the proposed Chair in perpetuity; funds will be invested and managed under the authority of the UCFV Foundation. A fundraising campaign is underway with the objective to raise a total of $3 million for an endowment, both to support the long-term development and operation of the Centre for Indo Canadian Studies and Research, and to match the $1.25 million grant from the B.C. Leading Edge Endowment Fund, bringing the endowment to a total of $4.25 million. More than $750,000 toward this goal has already been received.
The Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies and Research will define UCFV as the best resource for information and insight into Indo-Canadian Studies by becoming a national information repository, and a site for valuable economic, social, and cultural research.
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BACKGROUNDER on the Canada-India Business and Economic Development Regional Innovation Chair
A powerful cluster of economic activities is emerging in British Columbia, based on the strengths, entrepreneurship, and ‘social capital’ of the Indo-Canadian community. This important sector of the BC population provides access to the fast-growing Indian economy and other overseas markets.
Many businesses of our region are uniquely positioned to take advantage of these opportunities. However, in order to make investment decisions, develop risk minimization strategies, and plan their future growth, they require networking opportunities, investigation, marketing data, and other readily accessible information.
This is the kind of support the BC Regional Innovation Chair on Canada-India Business and Economic Development will provide, working closely with local businesses and other economic drivers of the region to unleash the potential of this economic sector.
The economic benefits of the Chair will be direct and tangible, including:
- Supporting new and powerful partnerships between Canadian and Indian businesses
- Helping BC and its regions to develop businesses and services that can take advantage of India’s large market, skilled labour force, and low production costs
- Enhancing and increasing business opportunities in some of the strong sectors of the BC economy by offering a greater access to international markets
- Providing concrete, evidence-based risk mitigation strategies to support international joint ventures
- Encouraging deeper business and trade collaboration to facilitate manufacturing and services outsourcing to India
- Enabling greater collaboration between Canadian and Indian scholars relating to economic development, international trade, marketing, and successful international business ventures.
The proposed innovation strategy Over the last two years, UCFV, its local economic partners, and members of the Indo-Canadian community have developed a strategy to support the role of Canadian business leaders in strengthening Canada’s business and economic ties with India. This regional economic development strategy is based on recent research on the importance of social capital for economic development that:
- acknowledges the role that the Indo-Canadian community can play, both locally and internationally, in turning its own social capital into a regional competitive advantage in Canada-India trade relations.
- recognizes the Indo-Canadian community can work as a “human bridge”, mobilizing members’ knowledge of both Canadian and Indian cultures to foster these relations.
What UCFV and its partners propose is a regional innovation strategy focusing on the mobilization of key businesses of the region to capitalize on the new opportunities afforded by the Indian market, based upon links available through the region’s Indo-Canadian community. It will provide a strong focal point, and a capacity to support the full economic development value of one of the region’s unique assets.
- Currently, UCFV is developing a business-training program in India and a Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies and Research (CICSR) in Abbotsford.
- UCFV has established working relationships with two major academic institutions of the Punjab region - Guru Nanak Dev University (Amritsar) and the Panjab University (Chandigarh), one of the top ten universities in India.
- In early 2005, UCFV’s CICSR and a new Canadian Studies Centre at Panjab University in Chandigarh formalized their intent to work together, and the two institutions are laying the foundation for joint efforts between the two centres, including faculty and student exchanges, and collaborative and innovative research.
- In addition to its partnerships with these Indian universities, UCFV is an active member of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, which brings together 21 Canadian universities involved in Indian Studies and connects them with a number of Indian academic counterparts. UCFV is also a member of the Canada-India Business Council.
UCFV and its Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies and Research provide a unique institutional platform for the development of local expertise and innovative research programs to support the economic development envisioned by the local business community.
About UCFV
UCFV is a comprehensive public university serving the Fraser Valley region of BC. It offers more than 12 bachelor’s degree programs, 60 diploma and certificate programs, and as of September 2005, Canada’s first Master of Arts degree in Criminal Justice. Serving approximately 10,000 students each year, including 400 international students, UCFV is now larger than half of Canada’s universities.
One of UCFV’s main strengths comes from its commitment to work closely with the communities it serves. That includes responding to the needs of the Indo-Canadian community and to contribute to regional development, as detailed in UCFV’s Strategic Plan 2004-07. The work to be conducted by the Chair has been identified as a key priority for UCFV, once funding has been established.
Contacts
David James, Campaign Director,
Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies
and Research Endowment Phone: 604-854-4566 Fax: 604-853-8055 Email: david.james@ucfv.ca
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