IACC to Facilitate Half Trillion USD Bilateral Trade Between India & USA

Billed as a brainstorming event, the 11^th Indo-US Economic Summit got underway at New Delhi. Inaugurating the event,  the Minister of Finance, Corporate Affairs and Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Mr. Arun Jaitley, the capacity audience,  "There is need for us to make several internal changes, including quick decision-making, stable policies, predictable tax regime in order to  improve ease of doing business", Arun Jaitley..

The deliberations are considering strategies and programs with a view to achieve the Half-A-Trillion (HAT) dollar bilateral trade target that was set by President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in their joint statement of October 1, 2014. The two leaders endorsed the “Vision Statement for the Strategic Partnership” that committed both governments to take steps to grow bilateral trade to $500 billion.

“Our bilateral trade in goods and services recently crossed the $100 billion threshold, five times what it was just a dozen years ago. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and President Obama, our governments are working together on increased engagement and new initiatives to reach the $500 billion goal in the years to come, said US Ambassador to India Richard Verma.

The HAT summit is focused  on themes like Make in India, Digital India and Renewable Energy and feature sessions on infrastructure, information technology, healthcare and hospitality. Of particular importance this year are confabulations on the newly vibrant defense, aerospace and electronics sectors.

According to Mr Lalit Bhasin, President of IACC’s North India Council, organizers of the mega event, “This summit assumes significance in view our Prime Minister’s imminent visit to the United States. We think that the goal set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama is laudable and doable. On IACC’s part, we are committed to make it reality. This particular summit is special because it showcases opportunities in various states through representation from our various state chapters.”

The Indo-US Economic Summit is the flagship event of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC). The Chamber has been organizing this for the past ten years with the aim of discussing important issues that influence bilateral commercial ties. Senior cabinet ministers, high-ranking diplomats and influential businessmen have increasingly participated in the IACC summits, an indicator of IACC’s growing reputation as the premier bilateral platform. The chamber’s widespread influence can also be measured by its growing roster of activities in India and in the United States plus this year the summit has garnered notable support of the United States Commercial Service, the powerful trade promotion agency of the US government.

“IACC seeks to embellish the relationship between the two countries by providing policy inputs and intellectual insights. This year we are glad to focus attention on the sunrise sectors including defense. The idea is to set the trend for growth in business partnerships between Indian and American firms over the next decade, with a special focus on small and medium enterprises,” said Mr. Sanjay Mehta, Regional Vice President, IACC & Managing Director, Teleperformance.

Over ten consecutive years the summit has emerged as a dynamic platform for international policy deliberations and bilateral business and trade development acting as an important vehicle to foster Indo-US cooperation in critical sectors.