USIBC's 35th Anniversary to Focus on Intersection of Commercial and Strategic Ties
India's Union Minister of External Affairs will call on U.S. industry on June 2nd as his "first stop" in Washington in advance of the bilateral, government to government U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue, scheduled for next Thursday.
Recognizing the vital role industry plays in shaping the policy of governments, the seasoned Indian External Affairs Minister plans on delivering a Keynote Address on the occasion of the U.S.-India Business Council's (USIBC) 35th Annual General Meeting - to share India's vision for the U.S.-India strategic partnership.
It may be recalled that when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited India last July, her first port of call was Mumbai to meet with India's most influential industrialists.
As former Chief Minister of the dynamic Indian State of Karnataka, and graduate of Southern Methodist University in the United States, the External Affairs Minister will capitalize on U.S. business enthusiasm for deeper ties with India.
"Genuine strategic engagement will mobilize meaningful technology collaboration, which not only serves to build confidence and trust between our countries, but will equip this and future generations to be the sophisticated workforce of tomorrow – aspects central to deepening the commercial and strategic ties between our democracies," USIBC President Ron Somers said, referring to Minister Krishna's acceptance to grace USIBC's 35th Anniversary.
USIBC's 35th Anniversary Summit- "A Pivotal Period in U.S.-India Relations: Tackling Education, Infrastructure & Inclusive Growth"- is attracting hundreds of business leaders from around the world, government representatives, U.S. and Indian Ambassadors, as well as Ministers and Secretaries from both countries.
Central themes of the summit include Managing Uncertainties and Mobilizing Resources to Meet India's Infrastructure Challenge, as well as The Pursuit of Inclusive Growth and the Crisis Undermining Global Capitalism.
In the first instance, with economies around the world drowning in red ink and the Euro zone possibly unwinding, India is notably embarked on the largest infrastructure build-out in modern history. The question arises as to what will be needed to attract greater U.S. participation in this historic undertaking, slated to cost $1 trillion over the next five years.
In the second instance, when millions of Americans remain unemployed and suffering mortgage foreclosures from the devastating global recession, while in India millions are still living below the poverty line, the question arises as to what industry's role must be to help governments successfully make the case for opening markets, advancing global capitalism, and promoting free trade.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and India's Minister of Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal will be participating. Joining these officials will be luminaries from the private and public sectors, including former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen; former U.S. Trade Representative, Amb. Susan Schwab; Ficci's Secretary General, Dr. Amit Mitra; Novartis President, Dr. Vas Narasimhan; Goldman Sach's Brooks Entwistle; Dow Chemical's Mike Gambrell; McKinsey's Rajat Gupta; Prime Minister's Global Advisory Council member, Swadesh Chatterjee; FedEx's Raj Subramaniam; Tata's David Good; Harvard's Amb. Nicholas Burns; The Carlyle Group's David Rubenstein; OP Jindal University's Vice Chancellor, Raj Kumar; Duke University's Dean, Blair Sheppard; and Raytheon's President, Admiral Walter Doran.
Y.C. Deveshwar, Chairman of ITC, will receive USIBC's 35th Anniversary Global Leadership Award. Under Mr. Deveshwar's leadership, ITC has been at the cutting edge of empowering India's rural farmers, as well as raising the bar in terms of green technology implementation. United Technologies Corporation will sponsor this prestigious award, which has previously been bestowed upon Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, Azim Premji, and Sunil Bharti Mittal.
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will introduce Larry Summers, the White House Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. U.S. Commerce Under-Secretary Francisco Sanchez will announce this Administration's emphasis on job creation by enlisting SMEs into the global U.S.-India supply chain.
Out-going USIBC chairman Indra Nooyi will pass the leadership mantle to her successor, Terry McGraw, President and CEO of The McGraw Hill Companies, who, as In-coming Chairman of the USIBC, will announce a major new initiative of the U.S.-India Business Council, which will focus on strengthening U.S.-India linkages in the K-12, vocation and higher education sectors.
The U.S.-India Business Council, formed in 1975 at the request of the Government of India and the U.S. Government to advance commercial ties between the world's two largest free-market democracies, is hosted under the aegis of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region. The U.S.-India Business Council celebrates its 35th Anniversary at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on June 2, 2010 in Washington, D.C. For more information please visit www.usibc.com.
www.usibc.com
Contacts:
U.S.-India Business Council
Kathryn Van Dyken, 202-463-5768
kvandyken@uschamber.com