The East India Council of Indo-American Chamber of Commerce organised an one day Economic Conclave titled ‘Indo-US Economic Relations: Now and Moving Forward’ on 17 August in Kolkata.
Over the past 76 years, India has emerged as the fastest growing large economy in the world, and the partnership between the United States and India has grown to be predominately characterized by alignment in objectives, values, and vision. India-U.S. bilateral relations have developed into a “Global Strategic Partnership”, based on shared democratic values and increasing convergence of interests on bilateral, regional and global issues.
The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, East India Council, aimed to highlight and uphold, India’s G-20 Presidency and the commonalities that India’s priorities as President have with the US. Through this one-day session, IACC, EIC aimed to conduct valuable sessions and engaging discussions in further cementing the ties between the nations.
Speaking at a session of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce virtually, Dr Amit Mitra, Principal Chief Advisor to Chief Minister of West Bengal, said, “During 2022-23, exports from West Bengal to the US increased 55 per cent over the previous period. Nearly ten per cent of India’s exports to the US originates from West Bengal. According to the RBI, West Bengal is the fourth largest economy in the country in terms of net value added (NVA). Merchandise exports from India to US have overtaken China. This shows the nature of openness of the US-India relationship” he said.
US Consul General in Kolkata Melinda Pavek said, “The objective of the US-India relationship is for a prosperous, peaceful and secure future. The US has set a target for issuing one million visas to Indian citizens in 2023. We are well on our way to reach that target and might also surpass that”.
She aslo added, “US and India are working on critical and emerging technologies, adding that an open accessible eco-system is being worked upon in the areas of space, new-age telecom, artificial intelligence and semiconductors.
The US government is working hard on reducing bureaucratic and administrative hurdles for a frictionless relationship between the two countries”.
The discussion session was graced by the presence of Mr. R. K Chhajer, Chairperson of FICCI MSME WB State Committee & Chairman of Arcvac Forgecast Pvt Ltd; Dr. Lalit Bhasin, National President, IACC, Prof (Dr.) Sujoy Kr. Biswas, CEO, Techno India University, Mr. Pankaj Bohra, Mr. A Sekhar and Mr. Kamal Vohra.