Riva WaliaCEO SmartLabs and Managing Director, FCCCO

Riva currently serves as the Managing Director and Founding Member of France Canada Chamber of Commerce, Ontario and is Country Partner for Chef Alain Ducasse Enterprise in Canada. As part of her Global mandate established by CCI France International, she is fully responsible for the expansion and evolution of the market. Under her leadership, the Chamber was successfully incorporated and grew to 70 Members in an 18-month period. She leveraged her C-suite connections and market knowledge to proactively identify new opportunities & established 4 Industry focused Centre of Excellences: Luxury Food and Retail, Innovation and Technology, Smart Ecosystems and Financial Services to drive incremental revenue and deliver value to the participating enterprise members. These platforms have enabled French organizations to expand footprint and build a C-suite peer community which enables collaboration. Rica is credited to conceptualized a CEO Club called Les Lumieres with 20 of the top French-Canadian business houses like AECON, IBM, Schneider, BNP Paribas, BNN Bloomberg, TD Bank, Chanel and the likes. In addition, Riva runs a strong advocacy group with entrenched relationships with all levels of the Government in Canada and Europe including Federal Minister of Public Services and Procurement in Canada; Minister of Culture of France, Canadian & French Ambassadors positioning Canada as strategic partner as a Trade partner for Europe.