Tuesday January 6, 2026 | VANCOUVER, BC [Posted at 11:18 am PT | Updated 11:59 am PT]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
BC Premier David Eby and Jobs and Growth Minister Ravi Kahlon will be heading to India next week to establish stronger and exapnded trade ties between BC and India.
The trip is planned for January 12 to 17.
Today Eby stressed that it’s a small delegation which aligns with Finance Minister Brenda Bailey’s goal to contain government travel costs.
Emerging economic engine:
BC is the emerging economic engine of Canada, and India is soon to be the third-largest economy in the world.
Key sectors for exploring expansion will be technology (including AI) and life sciences, which are areas already advancing in BC’s economy.
Other sectors of focus will be sectors where BC already leads, says Kahlon. That includes forestry, clean energy, agritech and sustainable resource innovation (also referred to as responsible mining in the news release).
Kahlon’s fluency in speaking the Indian language will likely help facilitate economic relationship-building in the four cities where trade mission meetings will take place: New Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Begaraluru (Bangalore).
Advancing Look West:
This BC trade mission to India builds on the province’s Look West industrial and economic plan.
Look West aims to double exports to non-US markets over the next 10 years.
Ahead of Budget 2026:
This trade mission takes place ahead of the Winter/Spring 2026 session of the BC Legislative Assembly which gets rolling on February 18.
Ahead of that will be the Throne Speech on February 12, followed by the BC Budget 2026 announcement on February 17.
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