Washington, DC
June 16, 2009 

The Commerce & Industry Minister of India Mr. Anand Sharma will be visiting the United States from June 16-19, 2009 to renew the dialogue with the US government on the way ahead for the India-US trade and economic partnership.

He will be meeting the US Commerce Secretary Mr. Gary Locke, and the US Trade Representative Ambassador Ronald Kirk. He will also be meeting with the Chair and the Ranking Member of the Trade Sub Committee of the US House of Representatives. 

He would be giving keynote remarks in the plenary session of the 34th annual USIBC Synergies Summit on 17th June and would speak on “India and the US – Partners for Prosperity”. Other speakers in the panel include Secretary of State Mrs. Hillary Clinton, US Commerce Secretary Mr. Gary Locke, and the US Trade Representative Ambassador Ronald Kirk. A strong business delegation from India is also participating in this event. 

At a reception to be  hosted by Ambassador Meera Shankar in his honour the same evening, he would meet representatives from the US Congress, the US government and US industry. 

He would be delivering an address on “India in a Globalized World” at the Peterson Institute for International Economics on 18th June.

He will address a press conference in the afternoon before leaving for New York. On June 19th, he would deliver the keynote address at an event jointly organized by CII, Asia Society on “The post-election landscape: the next wave of investment opportunities in India”. In the afternoon, he is scheduled to call on the UN Secretary General. The Consul General of India in New York would be hosting a reception in honour of the Minister in the evening.

Background:

Trade & economic relations are core elements of the India-US strategic partnership. Trade has grown rapidly since 2004. The Value of bilateral trade increased from $ 21.7 billion [US exports -$ 6.1 billion & Indian exports - $ 15.6 billion)] to $ 41.7 billion in 2007 [US exports -$ 17.6 billion & Indian exports $ 24.1 billion]. Despite the economic crisis, trade continued to grow in 2008, though at a slower rate -the total value reached $ 43.4 billion [US exports - $17.7 billion & Indian exports -$ 25.70 billion]. Major items of export from US include Machinery, Aviation & aircraft, Precious stones & metals, Electrical Machinery and Fertilizers. Major items of export from India include: Textiles, Precious stones & metals, Iron & Steel products, Organic Chemicals, Machinery (including Electrical Machinery) and Pharmaceutical products.

Services trade in 2007 (latest data available), was $19 billion in two-way trade which was fairly evenly balanced. U.S. exports of private commercial services (i.e., excluding military and government) to India were $9.4 billion in 2007; an increase of 37.1 percent over 2006, other private services (education), and travel categories accounted for the largest proportion of U.S. exports in 2007. U.S. imports of private commercial services from India were $9.6 billion in 2007, an increase of 25.6 percent over 2006. The other private services (business, professional, and technical services) and the travel categories accounted for most of U.S. services imports from India.

Investment has increased in both directions in recent years. U.S. is one of the largest foreign direct investors in India. Cumulative FDI inflows from USA till July 2008 was $7.96 billion. FDI inflows from USA constitute about 8 percent of actual FDI inflows into India in rupee terms. The sectors attracting FDI from USA are: Fuels (Power & Oil Refinery), (Telecommunications (radio paging, cellular mobile & basic telephone services), Electrical Equipment (including Computer Software & Electronics) Food Processing Industries (Food products & marine products), and Service Sector (Financial & Non-financial Services).

Indian investments have grown rapidly in the last 5 years. Over 2004-08, Indian companies entered into investment deals amounting to over $ 18 billion in diverse sectors such as steel, aluminum, oil, pharmaceutical, engineering, hotel and information technology sectors.

In recognition of the importance of the economic and commercial dimension of the relationship, a number of bilateral dialogues have been institutionalized between the two countries. These include inter-governmental forums like the Economic Dialogue, the Trade Policy Forum and the Commercial Dialogue as well as private sector initiatives like the India-US CEOs’ Forum and the Private Sector Advisory Group.