By IANS,
Kochi : US ambassador to India Nancy Powell Wednesday told the ‘Emerging Kerala-2012 Investor Meet’ here that the US wants Kerala to be part of the growth of US-India trade.
The event was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier Wednesday.
“We want this growth to be inclusive. We want all companies, regardless of size, to be able to participate in this growth. We have developed a strategy to increase trade between US companies and Kerala. We believe this strategy will be effective for Indian and American small, medium and large sized companies,” said Powell in her address to the meet.
“I believe in the near term, these steps will enhance company to company interaction and actual trade between the United States and Kerala. We aim to ensure that companies throughout Kerala are able to find relevant business partners in the US,” added Powell.
US-India bilateral trade in goods and services has increased almost five-fold in the last decade, from $18 billion in 2001 to nearly $90 billion in 2011, and may go up to $100 billion this year.
Powell inaugurated the second American Business Corner (ABC) in Kochi Tuesday. The first Kerala ABC opened in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram early this week.
She is joined by more than two dozen American companies attending the Emerging Kerala meet to explore commercial opportunities in Kerala through the Experience America Pavilion.