US high-tech team to promote trade with India
By IANSMonday, February 7, 2011
NEW DELHI - A high-end technology trade mission from the US, led by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, is in India to promote the export of technologies in sectors such as civil nuclear energy, aviation and defence to the largest economy in south Asia.
Locke was part of the team that accompanied President Barack Obama to India in November, when business deals worth more than $10 billion were signed between US companies and Indian private sector and government entities, expected to create about 50,000 jobs in America.
While in New Delhi, Locke will be holding a series of bilateral meetings with Indian government officials, before heading to Bangalore for the second stop of his trip.
The delegation, which includes senior officials from the Export-Import Bank (EX-IM) and the Trade Development Agency, will also make a stop in Mumbai.
“Locke will highlight export opportunities and efforts to break down tariff and non-tariff barriers for US businesses in the advanced industrial sector - civil nuclear trade, defence and security, civil aviation, and information and communication technologies,” said a statement from the US embassy here.
The pace of trade between the US and India is accelerating. Between 2002 and 2009, US exports to India quadrupled, growing from $4.1 billion to more than $16.4 billion.
India is a key market for the Obama administration’s national export initiative, which aims to double US exports in five years.
Through the first eleven months of 2010, US merchandise exports to India totalled $17.6 billion, up 17 percent from the same period in 2009.
