Punjab, Canadian province sign agreement

AMRITSAR - The Punjab government and Canada’s Alberta province Saturday inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work together in sectors like education, agriculture, agro-based industry and gas.

The MoU was signed by Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Alberta province Premier Ed Stelmach here.

Alberta province in Canada has a population of over 100,000 Punjabis.

After signing the MoU, Badal said that Punjab and Alberta were both agro-based economies and had decided to share their technology, especially in the areas of food processing, latest agricultural techniques and teaching methodology.

Badal said that Punjab, with only 1.7 percent geographical area of the country, contributed 55 percent rice and 65 percent wheat to the national pool.

Inviting Alberta province to tap the potential of shale gas in Punjab, Badal said Alberta, with specialization in this area, could contribute to the growth of Punjab.

Badal also offered to send Punjabi teachers to Alberta to teach Punjabi to over 100,000 Punjabis living in that province.

He said that after the signing of the MoU, the Punjab government would send teams to Alberta for talks on identified areas of cooperation.