Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra ’s Remarks at the Launch of the India–US Trade Facilitation Portal

Thank you very much. It is really my great pleasure to welcome all the export promotion council leadership that is present for the launch of today's trade facilitation portal, as also our distinguished Foreign Secretary who's here with us today to not just launch the portal, but also share larger perspective of how and where such initiatives get positioned in the context of India's own economic journey and growth, but also more importantly, their network effect in the amplification of India-US trade and economic partnership.

I have only three or four points to make. One, want to thank the honorable Commerce and Industry Minister, as also the Commerce Ministry, for their relentless and continuous support right from the time that this idea was conceptualized and the journey since then, to its actual realization today. Thank you very much, Commerce Minister Sir, and also all our dear friends in the Commerce Ministry, including Commerce Secretary, Rajesh Agrawal and his other colleagues.

The second point I would like to make is Honorable Prime Minister has been very clear that as our country journeys towards Viksit Bharat in 2047, the economic engagement with countries abroad, in particular, trade and technology will be central to achieving those objectives of Viksit Bharat. He has also been very clear, including during his visit to the US in February last year, that our objective to achieve Mission 500, that is two-way trade of 500 billion dollars in the next few years has to be an important component of the larger economic travel that we have ahead of us in taking India towards Viksit Bharat 2047. Our effort today would not only contribute to achieving that Mission 500 but would also play a larger role in significantly adding to the economic gains that our economy would make.

Three, I want to thank our Consul General Binaya Pradhan, commend him actually, and his team, particularly, Miss Raj Lakshmi Kadam, who has singularly taken this task and ran with it and actually taken it to the conclusion today, where we are able to successfully launch. I would also like to acknowledge the role of each of India's Consul General in the US, and also Minister (Commerce), Commerce wing at the Indian Embassy, which all contributed to building this up.

I would make, two more comments. One, if you really want to look at the market terminologies, then I would personally put trade or the growth of trade, both as a value stock, as a momentum stock and as a growth stock. A single stock which brings all the three things together and propels, essentially, your own economic growth by increasing the externalities of economic engagement through the business-to-business trade ties.

And, my last point is to express really a great delight, and express my personal privilege that our Foreign Secretary, Mr. Vikram Misri is here this morning with us. I have absolutely no hesitation in saying that right from the time that we started with this idea and took it across to both the Ministry of External Affairs and to the Commerce Ministry, we have received an absolute and total support in all these aspects from the Foreign Ministry. We really couldn't have asked anything more than this, that he himself is present here to do this launch, and to frankly, very much recognize the fruits of his own support and our Ministry’s support for this initiative. I would end there.

I would only appeal to all the Export Promotion Councils that are part of this initiative, that this is a singular opportunity to coherently converge our export promotion efforts, of the entire Government of India and, of course, of the individual sector specific councils, whether they are product-specific or they are service-specific. I would, at some state, even bring an Investment Promotion into this facilitation portal.

I think this is an excellent opportunity, we would welcome your feedback, of course, your efforts to make this successful. Once again, Thank you, Hon’ble Commerce Minister Sir. Thank you Hon’ble Prime Minister Sir, for your leadership. And thank you Foreign Secretary for really seeing this through with us all the way through and being here with us to launch the portal and share your thoughts. Thank you very much.