Speeches and Remarks
OFFICIAL TEXT
September 12, 2012
Remarks of Ambassador Nancy Powell at the Emerging Kerala Plenary Session
As Prepared for Delivery
CHENNAI: Thank you for inviting me to participate in this plenary session on the Kerala Development Model: Enabling Faster, Inclusive & Sustainable Growth.
I am delighted to share the dais with such accomplished and respected leaders in the area of planning and development.
Since my arrival in India, I have consistently said that one of my key priorities is promoting business ties between companies in both (of our) countries. I have also stated that we need to conduct more engagement outside of the traditional commercial centers of New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai.
For those reasons, I was delighted to be invited to Emerging Kerala, to see for myself what is happening in this beautiful state. I am also excited to be joined by more than two dozen American companies attending this conference to explore commercial opportunities in Kerala via our Experience America pavilion.
I have been very impressed with Kerala’s drive to promote inward investment that is environmentally friendly, knowledge-based and complimentary to Kerala’s inherent natural advantages. Kerala is a leader in education, literacy and healthcare. Attracting investment based on those factors is a winning strategy and one that has already attracted over 30 U.S. companies that have substantial investments in this state.
Investment is one piece of the puzzle; international trade is another important factor. U.S.-India bilateral trade in goods and services has increased almost five-fold in the last decade, from $18 billion in 2001 to nearly $90 billion in 2011, and it may near, we hope, $100 billion this year.
That’s the good news; trade creates opportunities and growth in both of our countries. Unfortunately, in the past Kerala’s share of this rapidly growing trade relationship has been relatively small. We applaud your efforts to foster change, and I believe you will find expanding trade and business opportunities for your companies here will accelerate and sustain your growth in this state for the long term. We want Kerala to be part of the growth of US-India trade.
We want this growth to be inclusive and by that I mean we want all companies, regardless of size, to be able to participate in this growth. Working with our Commercial Service here in India, we have developed a strategy to increase trade between U.S. companies and Kerala. We believe this strategy will be effective for Indian and American small, medium and large sized companies.
As the first part of this strategy, last night I opened our second American Business Corner, or ABC, here in Kochi. The first Kerala-based ABC opened with the gracious support of the Chief Minister in Trivandrum on Monday. By partnering with a local chamber of commerce, we aim to connect Kerala companies with U.S. based partners. ABC events will also greatly assist in making the people-to-people and B2B connections that need to take place to ensure trade flourishes. The American Business Corner in Kochi will hold quarterly activities designed to help companies from both sides understand the opportunities as well as providing technical expertise on the finer points of international trade.
Also last night, I participated in a virtual event with hundreds of US based companies, telling them about the attractive investment climate that exists here in Kerala and connecting them with our Commercial Service in India to follow-up on these opportunities.
Finally, I am delighted to announce we are organizing our first-ever trade mission from the United State to Kochi in February 2013, so U.S. based companies can see for themselves what Kerala has to offer.
I believe in the near term, these steps will enhance company to company interaction and actual trade between the United States and Kerala. We aim to build on this plan, to ensure that companies throughout Kerala are able to find relevant business partners in the U.S.
The United States is an enthusiastic supporter of Emerging Kerala, not just through the end of this week or the end of this conference. We are committed to continually engaging with you in a sustained and productive manner. I believe that by ensuring our companies have the knowledge and tools they need to connect they will grow international trade between Kerala and the United States and that growth will contribute to faster, inclusive and sustainable growth in the long-term. We look forward to partnering with all of you to make this happen.