Tory to lead 10-day trade mission to India and Sri Lanka

Toronto : Mayor Tory and two members of city council will embark on a 10-day trade mission to India and Sri Lanka later this month.
The trade mission, which will be Tory’s eighth since taking office, will take place from March 15 to 24.
The focus of this trip, Tory says, will be on convincing Bollywood filmmakers to consider Toronto as a place to do business. Tory said that he will also be working on building relationships with firms in India’s financial and technology sectors and selling them on the merits of Toronto, should they ever wish to set up a North American office.
“Toronto is seen as a place that is stable, it is seen as a place that is welcoming, it is seen as a place that is livable, it is seen as a place that respects and embraces diversity and that is the kind of place people want to live in,” Tory told reporters at the Adelaide Street office of Indian-based technology company Paytm Labs on Thursday. “We are simply going to be out there saying ‘If you are looking for a place that is stable, that is already full of talented people, then pick Toronto.’ That is what we are doing and I think that is what people would expect me to be doing as mayor.”
Tory will be joined by Economic Development Committee Chair Michael Thompson, newly elected councillor Neethan Shan and representatives from Toronto’s business community on the trade mission.
During the trip, the group will be meeting with a number of international companies, including Paytm, IBI group, the Jubilant Bhartia Group, Hero Group, Tata Group and Datawind.
Tory will also be participating in a keynote discussion with filmmaker Deepa Mehta at a three-day media and entertainment convention in Mumbai.
“If we look to future opportunity in the film industry it doesn’t just rest in L.A.; it rests in Bollywood,” Tory said. “We have the talent and the industry here to be great partners and have more of that work done in the City of Toronto.”
Tory has previously taken trade missions to Austin, London, Paris, Israel, China and Japan and Los Angeles and the Silicon Valley (twice).
The locations that will be visited on this trip include Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi in India and Colombo and the Northern Province in Sri Lanka.