Remarks
by
CONSUL GENERAL HENRY V. JARDINE
at
Press Conference
on
Upcoming Visit Of Assistant Secretary Of Commerce David Bohigian
January 8, 2008

January 8, 2008

Members of the press, thank you for joining us today.  I want to wish you all a Subo Nobo Borsho and in the spirit of the New Year the U.S. Consulate has several high profile commercial events to start 2008 with a bang and next week we will be having programs that I would like to share information about with you.  I’ll mention two of the events and will defer to Shoummo Acharya, President of TiE Kolkata, to give more information about the “Driving Entrepreneurial Growth” symposium jointly organized by TiE Kolkata and the U.S. Department of Commerce.

I would like to raise these events to your attention to demonstrate that U.S. firms are focusing on the commercial opportunities in East India.  The U.S. Government has also seen an unprecedented number of official and business visits.  2008 is already proving to be another record-breaking year.  

First, from January 13-15, I am pleased to announce that the Assistant Secretary for Market Access and Compliance David Bohigian will visit Kolkata.  He will lead a delegation of 11 renewable energy companies that will meet with local companies to investigate potential opportunities here.  The companies work in various technologies, ranging from waste-to-energy to solar to biomass.  This trade mission is part of the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, a key initiative for both India and the United States and the other participating countries.  We are working closely with the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency on this event.  I look forward to meeting you again next Monday when Assistant Secretary Bohigian and WBREDA Director Gon Chaudhuri make their remarks at their press conference.

Also, from January 17-20, the U.S. Commercial Service is organizing its first-ever USA Pavilion at the International Mining Exploration (IME) show in Kolkata. We have 11 companies participating.  Most of these mining companies manufacture equipment and components.  Both these events, the Clean Energy Trade Mission and the USA Pavilion at the IME show, mark a significant shift in terms of U.S. companies exploring business opportunities in East India.  We are well on our way to ensuring that Indo-U.S. trade doubles in two years, from USD 32 billion in 2006 to USD 64 billion by 2009. 

Finally, the main purpose of this press event is to tout the “Driving Entrepreneurial Growth” symposium, the first of its kind in India.  With generous support from the Kaufman Foundation, TiE Kolkata and the U.S. Department of Commerce have embarked upon this groundbreaking initiative to bring together entrepreneurs and policymakers to formulate recommendations to stimulate entrepreneurial growth.  Indians have long been trend-setters in terms of fostering entrepreneurial spirit.  The primary goal of this event is to help create conditions to further enhance entrepreneurship at all levels.   

Therefore I’d like to turn this over to Shoummo, who will tell us more about the entrepreneurship program.