US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke will lead a high-power trade delegation to India next month — including top 24 American companies like GE, Boeing and Lockheed Martin — on a mission focusing on export opportunities for America.
“Exports are leading the US economic recovery, spurring future economic growth and creating jobs in America,” he said in a statement.
“The business leaders joining me on this mission see a great potential in selling their goods and services to India, helping drive innovation and creating jobs for both the countries,” Locke said while announcing the details of the February 6-11 mission.
The delegation, which includes senior officials from the Export-Import Bank (Exim) and the Trade Development Agency (TDA), will make stopovers at New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
During the visit, Locke would highlight export opportunities for US businesses in the advanced industrial sectors of civil-nuclear trade, defence and security, civil aviation, and information and communication technology.
Locke accompanied President Obama to India in November, where they witnessed more than $10 billion in business deals between US companies and Indian private sector and government entities, supporting 50,000 American jobs.
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The India business development mission would help build on the exporting success US companies had in 2010 – up 17 per cent compared to the same period in 2009, the Commerce Department said.
It would be Locke’s second trade mission as the Commerce Secretary. In May, he had led a clean energy business development mission to China and Indonesia.
The commerce department said exports represented a critical part of the economy and were a key component of the Obama administration’s efforts to spur job creation.
A year ago, President Obama outlined his National Export Initiative (NEI), which seeks to double exports by 2015, in support of several million new US jobs.
“ NEI enhances the US government’s trade promotion efforts, increases credit to businesses – especially small- and medium-sized ones – looking to export, and continues to improve efforts to remove trade barriers for US companies in foreign markets,” it said.
The delegation includes ABSi Corporation, Exelon Nuclear Partners, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Intuit, Kent Displays, Lockheed Martin Corporation and Boeing.