India – US Economic Partnership Forum

Consulate General of India- Atlanta in association with Tech Mahindra and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) organized an “India – US Economic Partnership” Forum on March 16, 2017 at the Buckhead Club – Atlanta.

The goal of the event was to highlight the economic opportunities and business prospects that exist for Indian and American companies in the United States and in India respectively. It was also meant to provide a platform for companies already having operations in the two countries to share their experiences and give an SWOT analysis of India-US economic and commercial partnership.

Around 75 guests from various industries, Fortune 500 companies, business associations and government institutions, including from the States of Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia attended this event. Mcwane Inc , Alabama India business partnership – Alabama, First Data, UPS, Agco, AT&T, Portman Holdings - Georgia , South Carolina Department of commerce – SC, Metro Atlanta, Gwinnett, Sandy springs – chamber of commerce to name the few.

Consul General of India to the Southeast USA Mr. Nagesh Singh in his opening remarks highlighted the overall state of India US relations with a focus on ever growing trade and investment linkages between the two countries. He stressed on the large untapped potential for a more robust economic and commercial relationship between the two countries given the large size and high growth rates of the two economies. He informed the audience of the contributions made by Indian businesses in the United States in terms of direct investments and job creation.

Professor Jagdish Sheth, an eminent Professor of Marketing at Emory University and an acclaimed thought leader, shared his views on what lies ahead for the Global economy, including for India-US relations, under the Trump administration. Finding parallels between economic policies of the Reagan administration in the 1980s and policy pronouncements of Trump Administration, his prediction was the India-US economic relations will flourish under President Trump given the focus of his administration on bilateral trade relations rather than multilateralism. He also touched on the positive developments in the Indian economy since May 2014 and the fundamental reforms undertaken which will keep Indian economy on the high growth path in the years ahead. Professor Sheth found complementarities between ‘Make in India’ and ‘America First’ programs and he foresaw greater investments by Indian companies in the United States.
 

(L-R) Devesh Mathur Novelis, Tom Valasak Mahindra Genze, Unmesh Mishra L&T

The panel of Indian companies in US comprised of Devesh Mathur – Global Technology Director Novelis (Aditya Birla Group Company) , Tom Valasak –CMO Mahindra Genze (Mahindra & Mahindra group company), Unmesh Mishra –Area Vice President - L& T Infotech ( L& T Ltd group Company). They shared their experiences in terms of an Indian-owned enterprise in the US and also the important contributions their companies were making to local economy and employment creation. They also shared their CSR initiatives being implemented to support local communities in STEM education, computer literacy, training, internship programs etc.
 

(L-R) Trey Keisler GE, Bhaskar Ramani GE, Sunil Ghatnekar Coca Cola, Abhay Paranjape Lockheed Martin

The panel of US companies having successful operations in India consisted of Trey Kaisler – CIO Global operations, GE power , Bhaskar Ramani – VP (IT) Industrial Supply Chain GE Energy Connections, Sunil Ghatnekar – CFO Coca Cola Enterprises and Abhay Paranjape – Director India (Aeronautics) – Lockheed Martin. All panelists gave a glowing account of their companies’ business successes in India and the future plans of investing more in the Indian economy. They also shared the existing challenges & future prospects of the India story. Mr. Arvind Malhotra, Senior Vice President, Tech Mahindra moderated the event.

 

Gargi Pawar

Gargi Pawar from CII, Washington DC gave the vote of thanks and expressed confidence in the future prospects of Indo– US economic relation, despite the prevailing global economic challenges.

Consulate General of India - Atlanta intends to hold more events like this to showcase the mutually beneficial business opportunities that exist between India and United States, especially in the Southeast region.