After US outreach, Gujarat CM to meet Canadian business, academic leaders in Toronto
Gandhinagar, Aug 22 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will arrive in Toronto on Sunday as the second leg of his week-long visit to the United States, and Canada shifts the state’s investment outreach towards Canadian businesses and institutions ahead of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2027.
Patel, accompanied by a high-level Gujarat delegation, is scheduled to arrive in Toronto on August 23, following engagements in San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and New York.
The overseas visit is aimed at strengthening international partnerships and exploring investment opportunities across sectors ahead of the 11th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, scheduled for January 2027.
In Toronto, Patel will meet representatives of businesses and institutions including the University of Waterloo, Canada Nickel Co., HGS Bioscience, Fairfax and Canadian Tyres.
He will also lead a roundtable with members of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), focusing on Gujarat’s startup ecosystem and opportunities for collaboration.
On August 23, Patel is scheduled to receive a traditional welcome at the airport from the Consulate General of India and members of the Gujarati diaspora.
He will subsequently interact with members of the Gujarati community and attend a reception hosted by the Federation of Gujarat and the Consulate General of India.
On August 24, Patel will lead the TiE roundtable before meeting Goldy Hyder, President and CEO of the Business Council of Canada.
He is also scheduled to participate in a GSFC roundtable with the Regional Director for Ontario, EDC Vice-President Mohit Bhatia and representatives including Karen Hung, as well as Danielle, CEO, and Christi, CFO, of KRN.
The Chief Minister will hold separate meetings with Sanjeev Gill, AVP, Innovation, University of Waterloo; Mark Selby, CEO, Canada Nickel Co.; Mike Steffeck and Martin Bloomberg of HGS Bioscience; Peter Clarke and Chandra Ramaswamy of Fairfax; and James Prescott of Canadian Tyres.
The engagements are intended to explore potential investment, business and institutional partnerships with Gujarat. Patel is also scheduled to visit Niagara Falls before leaving Toronto for Dubai on August 25.
The Canadian leg follows meetings in the United States with senior executives and business and technology leaders as Gujarat seeks to build partnerships in areas including semiconductors, artificial intelligence, technology, research, skilling and supply chains.
During the US leg, Patel met Nicolas Sauvage, President of TDK Ventures; Wadhwani Foundation founder and chairman Romesh Wadhwani; Applied Materials senior vice-president and chief technology officer Omkaram (Om) Nalamasu; Modutech Corporation CEO Vineet Srivastava; Zscaler founder, chairman and CEO Jay Chaudhry; and Analog Devices executive vice-president for Global Operations and Technology Vivek Jain.
Patel and the delegation also visited the Consulate General of India in San Francisco before travelling to Washington, D.C. In Washington, Patel met Micron Technology chairman, president and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra and Google vice-president of engineering for Google Workspace Chandu Thota.
He also held a one-to-one meeting with Perplexity co-founder and CEO Aravind Srinivas and met Walmart executive vice-president for Global Public Policy and Government Affairs Dan Bryant.
The Chief Minister also interacted with members of TiE Silicon Valley. The meetings with Micron, Google and Perplexity focused on areas including semiconductors, artificial intelligence, skilling and data infrastructure, according to reports on the US leg of the visit.
The visit is part of Gujarat’s international outreach ahead of the 2027 Vibrant Gujarat summit, with the state seeking to attract investors while developing longer-term partnerships in technology, research, manufacturing and global supply chains.
–IANS
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