Hon’ble Commerce, Industry and Trade Minister, Shri Anand Sharma visited New York from 9-10 July, 2013. Hon’ble Minister was accompanied by Mr. S.R. Rao, Commerce Secretary, Mr. Rajeev Kher, Additional Secretary, Mr. Rajeev Arora, Joint Secretary, Mr. Atul Chaturvedi, Joint Secretary. A business delegation led by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) also accompanied the Hon’ble Minister.

On 10 July, Hon’ble Minister met UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki Moon. He also met with the corporate senior leadership of several companies and encouraged them to invest in broad based manufacturing in India. The companies expressed keen interest in expanding their business presence in India and agreed to stay engaged with Indian market through trade and investment.

Hon’ble Minister then gave a key note address to the members of US-India Business Council and CII where he highlighted the fact that India and the US shared a strategic partnership, which ranged across sectors such as, aerospace, nuclear and clean energy, defence, agriculture, IT, communications, science & technology, etc. Both countries had also invested in each other, and the relationship was bound to become stronger as India bounces back to its high growth trajectory. Hon’ble Minister highlighted India’s focus on high-end led manufacturing growth, and its plans to create self regulated autonomous industrial cities called the National Industrial Manufacturing Zones (NIMZ), thus putting in place infrastructure as well as an environment where speedy approvals and permits can be obtained within these cities itself. He invited US manufacturers to utilize the opportunity provided by NIMZ.

He also reiterated the fact that India remained the third most favoured nation for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and invited the US to invest in sectors liberalized by the new FDI Policy such as Multi Brand retail, Civil Aviation and Information and Broadcasting. He also said that barriers for movement of skilled professional should not be created and rather removed for the benefit of both countries.

Amongst other issues, Hon’ble Minister also briefed the audience on the India-EU Free Trade Agreement. Hon’ble Minister also met senior correspondents from International media.

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New York
July 10, 2013