Toronto: Rana Sarkar, an Indo-Canadian entrepreneur, has been appointed as Canada's consul general in San Francisco as well as a member of the Canadian official team tasked with renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with the US and Mexico.

Toronto: Rana Sarkar, an Indo-Canadian entrepreneur, has been appointed as Canada's consul general in San Francisco as well as a member of the Canadian official team tasked with renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with the US and Mexico.

Sarkar was till recently national director for high growth markets at the Toronto-based multi-national KPMG. Sarkar is part of a 13-member group tasked with helping the Canada navigate the renegotiation of NAFTA, the Canadian government said in a statement. From 2009 to 2013, Sarkar was president and CEO of the Canada-India Business Council. He was also the founding advisory board committee co-chairman and senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs.

The statement said the government hopes Sarkar will be able to seize on opportunities to attract investment from the US to Canada. The Canadian government is beefing up its team in the US as it prepares a full court press to defend Canada's interests in the looming renegotiation of the NAFTA, CTV News reported. Talks on changing the NAFTA agreement between Canada, the US and Mexico are scheduled to begin on August 16.

According to Global Affairs Canada, the advisory council will bring "expertise and strategic advice" to the Canadian side of the discussion. Appointment of Sarkar in this high profile position is amongst a series of appointments of Indo-Canadians made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

They include four Indo-Canadian federal ministers: Bardish Chagger as the Minister for Small Business and Tourism and House Leader, Navdeep Bains as the Minister for Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Harjit Singh Sajjan as the Minister for National Defence and Amarjeet Sohi as the Minister for Infrastructure and Communities. PTI