• Barj Dhahan Smiling

    News: India untapped opportunity for B.C. companies

    Originally published in Business in Vancouver on May 12, 2014.

    The number of students from India enrolling in Simon Fraser University has been rising steadily over the past four years but business connections between India and British Columbia are still hampered by a lack of easy access, according to a Surrey businessman.

     “India has gone through massive economic growth in the last 10 to 15 years,” said Barj Dhahan, who sits on Simon Fraser University’s India Advisory Council. “Amazing technological innovations are taking place in India. The middle class is growing by millions every year, the buying power in U.S. dollars is quite high, so those people have high aspirations for themselves and the goods and services they want. And so it offers opportunities for B.C., Surrey and Canadian businesses.”

    That growth has brought more students to B.C. from India such that they now make up around 4% of SFU’s international enrolment, Dhahan said.

    However, with that growth come growing pains. While Dhahan said India is receiving more recognition as a key international business partner, airline companies have been hesitant to follow suit.

    A key barrier to increasing B.C.’s business connections and opportunities in India, he said, is the lack of non-stop air service from Vancouver to India’s major cities.

    In November 2012, Business in Vancouver reported that Vancouver Airport Authority (YVR) executives were negotiating with carriers to launch non-stop flights to such places as Peru, Chile and India (“Airlines to launch new international non-stop services from Vancouver” – biv.com; November 20, 2012).

    However, in an interview at the time, YVR director of aviation marketing John Korenic noted that strong demand for business-class tickets was key to the viability of non-stop flights between Vancouver and major cities in India such as New Delhi.

    Anne Murray, YVR vice-president of marketing and communications, said Dhahan’s request is still on the authority’s radar.

    “India is a market that we are very interested in. We are constantly looking for an airline partner that could provide non-stop flights to India, the largest market with no direct service from YVR.”