Praising the efforts of the United States-India Business Council (USIBC) for ensuring the signing of the Indo-US civilian nuclear accord, US Secretary of Commerce, Carlos Gutierrez, today announced the largest-ever civil nuclear trade mission to India in December. The mission will be led by USIBC.
“US-India bilateral trade in 2007 was nearly $42 billion, up 55 per cent from 2005. Sales of nuclear and other clean energy technologies presents an opportunity to do more business together,: the top Bush administration official remarked at the “Green India Summit” here yesterday.
The one-day summit was organised by the USIBC and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and was attended by top executives and CEOs of business houses.
The summit also saw addresses by Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, the Indian Ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen, and former US defence secretary William Cohen, who is now the chairman and CEO of the Cohen Group.
Gutierrez used the occasion to remind New Delhi to get moving on the nuclear liability protection legislation if American business houses are to participate.
“US companies are eager to contribute to India’s developing nuclear power sector. However, private sector firms, both Indian and US, require nuclear liability protection in order to do business. India must draft and ratify a domestic law consistent with the Convention of Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage,” he said.
“India has the potential to be one of the worlds largest clean energy markets. It has a population of more than one billion people and over the next 20 years, it’s projected to overtake China. In this context, India will need to expand its primary energy supply by at least three times and its electricity supply by five times its current consumption to sustain economic growth.”
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Pointing out to the fact that US is currently India’s principal source of imported water treatment equipment, the Commerce Secretary encouraged India to continue working cooperatively to target environmental goods for trade liberalisation. “We’re working together with India through the Asia-Pacific Partnership (APP) on Clean Development and Climate. Since March 2007, the Commerce Department has led a total of 40 US companies on three APP Clean Energy and Environment Trade Missions.
The result has been new commercial partnerships and millions of dollars in exports,” he said. “During the third trade mission last month, one US company (Synergics) signed a deal to provide hydroelectric power to approximately one million homes in India. To highlight the potential of the clean energy market in India, the International Trade Administration recently released an export guide,” Gutierrez said.“Ill close with this. Trade is critical and in fact it continues to be the bright spot of the US economy.
These re challenging economic times. And like other countries in the world, India and the next US Administration will have to set policy for the future” the senior official said. Gutierrez closed his address reminding the audience that neither “protectionism” nor “economic isolation” are the answers to the challenges that are currently facing nations. “I dont believe retreating into economic isolationism is the solution. I hope the choice for all will be openness and global engagement that generates growth, competitiveness, and opportunities,” he said. “This ‘Green India’ Summit is another opportunity to explore and develop ways to grow our economies,” the Commerce Secretary said.