The City of Toronto and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) inked a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday related to the creative screen industries in Toronto and India.

The memorandum calls for mutual cooperation to advance the two parties’ common interests in the creative screen industries in both Toronto and India, including production, post-production, visual effects and digital media. The agreement aims to foster business partnerships that will eventually lead to investment and knowledge sharing. Both the city and FICCI have also agreed to provide assistance and facilities for trade missions, summits, seminars and festivals related to the creative screen industries.

The MOU is the first agreement a municipality has signed that is directly related to the India-Canada coproduction treaty finalized in February 2014. Michele Alosinac, the film sector development office for the Toronto Film, Television and Digital Media Office said her group will be introducing members of the FICCI to players in Toronto’s creative industries throughout TIFF. She also stressed the importance of government taking the lead on building business relationships within the screen industry.

“It is incumbent upon us to reach out and not be insular because it is a global industry. FICCI stands for a number of very strong companies in India so it’s important for government sometimes to lead the way. The federal government was the one who set up the coproduction treaty so now we’re looking to enact that in a real way within Toronto,” Alonosic told Playback Daily.

The MOU announced Wednesday was signed by Toronto Mayor John Tory and Akhilesh Mishra, the Consul General of India in Toronto.

Photo caption for above:  From R to L – Toronto Mayor John Tory; Akhilesh Mishra, the Consul General of India in Toronto; Ashish Kulkarni, Chairman FICCI Animation, VFX, Gaming and Comics. Image courtesy of City of Toronto