India's plastics industry has an entrepreneurial spirit and is ready to do business with the rest of the world, according to the president of the Mississauga-based Canadian Plastics Industry Association.
Serge Lavoie toured India in late April with Canadian government officials to gauge plastics trade potential between India and Canada. He said ties between the plastics sectors of the two nations were strengthened through a memorandum of understanding he signed April 26 with the Organization of Plastics Processors of India, which represents about 300 of the largest processors in that country.
As a result of the memorandum, Indian processors will visit Canada in October, about the time of the Expoplast 2005 trade show in Montreal. In February, Canadian firms will reciprocate and visit India in the first official fact-finding tour there for Canada's processors.
Indian companies are open to forming joint ventures in their country or in Canada, Lavoie said in a telephone interview. They also seem receptive to teaming up to tackle markets elsewhere, such as in Europe. Canada has a large Indian diaspora, which could help catalyze trade between small and midsize companies.
Lavoie said he sensed a stronger entrepreneurial attitude among Indian processors than is typical in China. Indian companies want to market internationally rather than just act as a manufacturing zone.
India's language of business is English and its business culture is similar to North America's, he added. Also, the country recently cut import tariffs on machinery and molds.