USIBC and Nasdaq Host Minister Piyush Goyal in New York City
NEW YORK CITY – The US-India Business Council (USIBC), part of the US Chamber of Commerce, and Nasdaq co-hosted the Honorable Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, for an exclusive panel discussion with USIBC members at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City. Officials from the Government of India were also present Randhir Jaiswal, Consul General in New York, Shruti Singh, Joint Secretary of DPIIT and Suja Menon, Chief of Trade Wing at the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC Ambassador Atul Keshap, President of USIBC , and Edward Knight, Executive Vice Chairman of Nasdaq and Interim Chairman of the USIBC Global Board of Directors, led the discussion, titled “Friend-Shoring and the US-India Trade Partnership: Shaping Shared Economic Sustainability,” which featured leaders of the C-Suite across the supply chain and logistics, manufacturing, healthcare, digital economy and financial services sectors.
Key topics of discussion included expectations from the upcoming TPF, ways to further strengthen India’s intellectual property regime and India’s progress in improving the ease of doing business. USIBC members highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s National Logistics Policy as a “game changer” and a major step in reducing the costs of doing business in the Indian market and unlocking India’s potential as a global manufacturing and export hub. Notably, several USIBC members signaled major new investments in India and plans to expand their manufacturing presence in the country.
In November, US Treasury Secretary Yellen visited India to discuss the administration’s agenda “to sustain the friendship” with the Honorable Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs. The USIBC supported Secretary Yellen’s visit, and Council members have been looking for ways to align their new investment plans with the initiative as they diversify their supply chains and exposures to foreign markets.
“India-US relations have been at an all-time high. In addition to strong bilateral relations, we are working closely on platforms such as Quad, I2-U2, IPEF etc. For US companies looking for ‘good times’, this is the time, this is the right time, to look at India, and engaging more with India,” said Minister Piyush Goyal. The minister added that “There are limitless opportunities everywhere: from semiconductors to infrastructure to healthcare to manufacturing to innovation to renewables to defense and so on. I am confident that American industry will seize these opportunities to grow in India and grow with India.”
At the event, Ambassador Keshap and Edward Knight highlighted how India’s G20 presidency this year and the United States’ focus on “supporting friends” presents an important opportunity to highlight the importance of the US-India economic partnership and a fertile backdrop to make significant progress on US-India trade issues.
Ambassador Keshap stated that “under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and Minister Goyal, India is taking an entrepreneurial approach to its trade partnerships and embracing an agenda focused on promoting India’s growth as a global export hub, an ambition that our member companies they support and appreciate it. The upcoming US-India Trade Policy Forum presents a strong opportunity for our two countries to advance their economic convergence. Progress in aligning investment and trade policies, intensifying cooperation on critical and emerging technologies, and lowering trade barriers will enable the industry to deliver sustainable growth, job creation and economic sustainability for both our nations.
Highlighting the common strategic challenges facing democracies around the world, Ambassador Keshap added that “as the United States and other like-minded democracies seek to strengthen their supply chains, India is a vital partner for supporting friends. This meeting between Minister Goyal and our member companies intensifies collaboration between government and industry to ensure reliable and secure access to the materials, talent and manufacturing capacity we need to power our high-trust ecosystem of like-minded democracies. ”
Nasdaq’s Edward Knight highlighted the existing and potential future role of US capital markets in powering India’s economic growth and connecting India’s talent, startup ecosystem and rapidly expanding industrial capacity with global capital.
“We are proud to host this thought-provoking roundtable discussion at Nasdaq MarketSite with Minister Goyal,” said Edward Knight. “There is a tremendous opportunity to showcase India’s longstanding culture of innovation and entrepreneurship to global capital markets and global investors. We look forward to continuing our diplomatic relationship with the Government of India as we look for more ways to facilitate growth between our nations.”
