|
|
News of Jan
4, 2007
Bid to Push Links
Among Small and Medium Firms of India, US
New Delhi, Jan 4
A forum to drive business links between small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) in India and the US has been initiated by a leading
Indian-American lobby group based in Washington.
"We have met with Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and have suggested
the SME forum should be on the lines of the US-India CEOs' Forum,"
Sanjay Puri, chairman of US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC),
told a press conference here Thursday.
The minister is setting up a coordinating mechanism at the commerce
ministry to create synergies between efforts of various industry and
bilateral trade forums to accelerate the pace of ties among SMEs of
the two countries, he said.
India-US bilateral trade stands at $24 billion and US companies are
among the largest investors in the Indian industry space.
"Till now, the majority of investment in India from the US has come
from large multinational companies, since no one really looked at
attracting SMEs from the US to India or vice-versa," the chief of
the lobby group said.
"This area has huge potential for revenue generation," said Puri,
who is leading a 20-member US delegation of top business executives,
entrepreneurs and medical professionals to the Pravasi Bharatiya
Divas, India's annual diaspora conclave, to be held here Jan 7-9.
Asked what USINPAC is doing in the US for boosting bilateral SME
trade, he said that his organisation has been approaching various
companies there, asking them to open offices in India.
Robindra Sachdev, director of USINPAC, said that his organization
was also looking at promoting delegations led by US state governors
to India.
"Last year, there were as many as 32 governor-led delegations from
the US to China but only one to India," he said. "It is important
that the number goes up because such delegations comprise very
influential trade and industry leaders."
Asked what else had been USINPAC's initiative in this regard, Puri
said that the organization has been discussing the issue with five
Indian states. "In the next two years, we expect a lot of SME
linkages between India and US," he said.
He listed various auxiliary industries associated with sectors like
automobiles, aviation and infrastructure as areas that have a huge
potential for SMEs of the two countries to collaborate.
IANS
News of Jan
4, 2007
Top |
News |
|
