Mr Dua said while the US is India's primary destination for exports, it still accounts for a small part of total US imports. The US foreign direct investment (FDI) into India at $856 billion (for April-March, 2007) is miniscule of what the US invests elsewhere globally.
Another important point raised by Mr Dua is that the American industry needs to increase investment in India's infrastructure sectors like roads, ports, telecom, power and airports. He said though India's poor infrastructure was challenging, it also offered great business opportunities. “Speeding up of the process of issuing export licences in the US will see more US companies coming to India,” he said.
Earlier in his welcome address, the chief guest at the seminar, Mr Analjit Singh, Chairman, Max (India) Ltd, said consumer, technology and markets are changing the way business is done across the world and India-US trade relationship should be built against this backdrop.
Mr Sanjay Budhia, Managing Director, Patton Ltd. said it was a win-win relationship for both the countries. For a balanced two-way trade traffic, we need each other and India has a strong chance to be a strategic partner for the US.
Addressing the seminar, Mr Tarun Das, Chief Mentor, CII, said while business to business and people to people relationship was strong, government to government interaction was weak and both the countries must address this issue.
There was also a panel discussion with government representatives. The panelists were Mr Khalid Bin, Jamal, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Mr S K Prasad, Additional Director, Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Mr Debashis Dutta, Senior Director, Ministry of Information and Technology.
Confederation of Indian Industry
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