Speeches & Articles

Remarks of U.S. Consul General Henry V. Jardine
at the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce
National Executive Council Annual Meeting

April, 07 2006

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you all for inviting me here today to make a few remarks on the occasion of your annual meeting in Calcutta, the site where Indo-U.S. relations first began with the arrival of Benjamin Joy in 1792.  Over two hundred years later, the work of your members and organization has been instrumental in moving our economic relations into a new era of opportunity and growth. 

Before I get into the discussion of how the economic ties between India and the United States have expanded so significantly, I wanted to share with you one concrete example of how your offices have been instrumental in facilitating our trade relations.  

Last August, when Ambassador Mulford made his first official visit to Calcutta, Mr. Asok Aikat used that opportunity to highlight the need for a Foreign Commercial Service Officer here in East India.  Mr. Aikat was so convincing that the Ambassador took on this advice. When he went back to the Embassy, the Ambassador wrote a letter to the Secretary of Commerce encouraging the placement of an officer here. 

I am pleased to announce that this summer we will see an increase in our office with the addition of a new Foreign Commercial Service (FCS) Officer Ms. Alice Crowe Nandi.  Ms. Nandi is coming to us from our Embassy in Mexico and will be working here to promote opportunities for U.S. export and commercial activity in this region.

I want to use this opportunity to personally thank Mr. Aikat for his advocacy and again reflect on the importance of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce in promoting trade relations between India and the United States.

Trade forms a significant part of the overall U.S.-India bilateral relationship. The two-way trade between India and the US in 2004-05 stood at USD 20 billion and we aim at doubling bilateral trade to USD 40 billion within three years.  

The U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum has been carrying out extensive discussions on trade issues and priorities and five focus groups on agriculture, tariff and non-tariff barriers (NBT) in industrial products, services, investment and innovation and creativity are looking into various aspects of our relationship. 

The U.S. is India’s largest trading partner and foremost export destination.  At present, it accounts for 16.48% of India’s exports and around 6.26% of India’s imports.  India accounts for only about 1.06% of the U.S.A.’s total trade. There is, therefore, a huge untapped potential to increase bilateral trade. 

As you are well aware, the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative has seen a lot of attention as a result of President Bush’s visit. The initiative reflects U.S. confidence in India as a global strategic partner. This nuclear deal is about to herald a change in India’s own legislation that gives the Indian private sector, hopefully along with the possibilities of FDI, the opportunity to participate in civilian nuclear energy generation.

Our agricultural experts have successfully addressed a number of sanitary/phytosanitary (SPS) issues, including signing an agreement that will eventually permit export of Indian mangoes to the United States and recognition of India’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) as eligible to certify Indian products as compliant with USDA organic standards. So our two countries are now actively building institutions and putting in place systems that will sustain this relationship in the long run. The prospect of Indian – and West Bengal’s – mangoes being sold in the U.S. is a symbol of the new opportunities in the whole sector of agro-business.

West Bengal and Bihar have a comparative advantage in agriculture.  These two states stand to gain out of the knowledge initiative in agriculture.  It is important for agriculture in these states to move up the value chain by integrating seamlessly into agri-business and retail. The latest CMIE (Center for Monitoring Indian Economy) data indicate that West Bengal is no longer an agro-industrial society. The state has become a service economy with 54 percent of its domestic product coming from the services sector. Such an economy throws up issues and compulsions that are significantly different from the traditional development models. The retail sector has the capacity to address some of these concerns about value addition and employment in agriculture. So far, domestic investment in retail, at best, has been able to create a limited number of low-paid jobs and one of the reasons for this is the small scale of investment. Entry of foreign capital in retail will deliver economy of scale – both to the retailer and the consumer.

And in addition to agriculture, there are a number of interesting elements in the U.S.-India joint declaration that can benefit East India. The agreement to develop a clearing house for coal-bed methane has great potential since two of the 16 virgin CBM beds located in India are in the West Bengal-Jharkhand region. Clearly, there is scope for joint effort in this area between U.S. and Indian companies.

The mineral rich and fertile land of Eastern India has always been the natural choice of industry and commerce. Removal of policies that robbed this region of its comparative advantage is allowing industries to come back to where they belonged. At the same time, the digital explosion has opened up new opportunities here. I am happy that IACC has acknowledged this new optimism in India’s Eastern region and decided to hold its National Executive in Kolkata.

We have entered a new era in the Indo-U.S. trade relationship and the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce has made a great contribution this new era.  Your efforts at promoting dialogue, business linkages and policy reforms have all been critical to laying the foundation for the great progress we have seen just in the past year.

Thank you all for your excellent support and I encourage you to continue your great work in the coming year.

Thank you.