Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel arrived in Toronto on August 23 as part of a week-long visit to the United States and Canada aimed at strengthening international partnerships and exploring investment opportunities ahead of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2027.
Patel traveled with a high-level Gujarat delegation and was scheduled to meet representatives of businesses, educational institutions and entrepreneurial organisations during the Canadian leg of the tour. The visit focused on areas including technology, startups, education and industry.
The Chief Minister received a welcome from the Consulate General of India and members of the Gujarati diaspora after arriving in Toronto. He also interacted with members of the diaspora at a reception hosted by the Federation of Gujarat and the Consulate General of India.
Meetings with businesses and institutions
On August 24, Patel will lead a roundtable with members of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), bringing together entrepreneurs and representatives from the startup ecosystem. He will also meet Goldy Hyder, president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada.
The Gujarat delegation is scheduled to hold discussions with representatives of several Canadian companies and institutions. These include the University of Waterloo, Canada Nickel Co., HGS Bioscience, Fairfax and Canadian Tyres.
Patel will also participate in a GSFC roundtable involving representatives of Export Development Canada and other organisations. The meetings are intended to explore potential collaborations and investment opportunities in Gujarat.
The Canadian leg of the visit will conclude with Patel visiting Niagara Falls before he departs for Dubai on August 25.
Meetings held during US visit
Before travelling to Canada, Patel visited San Francisco, Washington, DC and New York, where he met business and technology leaders and representatives of institutions.
In San Francisco, the CM met Nicolas Sauvage, president of TDK Ventures; Romesh Wadhwani, founder and chairman of Wadhwani Foundation; Om Nalamasu, senior vice-president and chief technology officer at Applied Materials; Vineet Srivastava, CEO of Modutech Corporation; Jay Chaudhry, founder, chairman and CEO of Zscaler; and Vivek Jain, executive vice-president, global operations and technology at Analog Devices.
In Washington, the delegation met senior representatives of Micron and Google. Patel also held a one-to-one meeting with Aravind Srinivas, co-founder and CEO of Perplexity, and interacted with members of TiE’s Silicon Valley chapter.
The Chief Minister also met Dan Bryant, executive vice-president, global public policy and government affairs at Walmart, during the US leg of the visit.
The tour is part of Gujarat’s efforts to build international business relationships and present the state’s investment opportunities to global companies ahead of the 2027 Vibrant Gujarat summit.
