Bryson highlights opportunities for Indian travelers to visit the United States
Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–March 30, 2012. U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson today concluded his five-day business development mission in Mumbai, the commercial center of India. Today’s visit focused on promoting tourism for Indian citizens who want to visit America, as well as exploring opportunities for U.S. companies to promote their technologies and services in India’s rapidly expanding infrastructure sector to support job creation in both countries.
Bryson had the opportunity to participate in the official launch of the Visit USA Committee India (VUSACOM), a public-private partnership whose sole mission is to promote and increase travel and tourism from India to the United States. VUSACOM members include travel agents, tour operators, service providers and U.S. product representatives. In 2011, the United States had a $2.2 billion surplus in travel and tourism from India, and total spending by Indians traveling to the U.S. was almost $4.6 billion in 2011, up 15 percent from 2010. In addition, the number of Indian travelers to the U.S. reached a record 663,000 in 2011.
“Travel and tourism to the U.S. is an important way for us to expand our commercial ties and ensure balanced trade growth between our countries,” said Bryson. “Under President Obama’s leadership, we are working closely with America’s travel and tourism industry to encourage more travel from countries like India to the U.S., and with the help of Visit USA, we will do everything we can to build on the record number of travelers–663,000–from India to the U.S. last year.”
In addition to meeting with government officials in Mumbai, Bryson hosted a luncheon with companies that help finance infrastructure projects as well as a roundtable with companies that are involved in energy-related infrastructure projects. In both, he talked with U.S. and Indian business leaders about the importance of the U.S.-India commercial relationship and he encouraged development of new business opportunities between the members of the delegation and their Indian counterparts. He also talked about the great progress India has made in opening its markets to U.S. companies, but encouraged continued consultations to resolve issues such as market access barriers and intellectual property protection.
Secretary Bryson was joined this week by three other U.S. agencies: the Export-Import Bank, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Yesterday, the Board of Directors of OPIC, the U.S. government’s development finance institution, voted to approve $250 million in financing to help India’s Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) expand its lending to renewable energy projects–including solar, wind and energy efficiency–as well as infrastructure projects overall. This financing will provide much-needed long-term capital in these high-potential areas.
This week’s trade mission, which included visits in New Delhi and Jaipur, provided an opportunity for Bryson to focus on two of his main priorities as Commerce Secretary–helping U.S. businesses export goods and services and encouraging investment in the U.S. Secretary Bryson and the 16-company trade delegation are making real steps towards laying the groundwork for both of those initiatives, in addition to encouraging Indian tourists to visit the U.S. and strengthening the bonds between the governments, the businesses and the people of India and the United States.
As one of the world’s fastest growing economies, India is a priority under the President’s SelectUSA initiative, the first coordinated federal effort to promote and facilitate business investment in the U.S. from foreign and domestic companies, and its large market presents an important opportunity for U.S. companies to sell their goods and services to some of the 95 percent of consumers who live beyond our borders and boost job creation at home. India’s $1 trillion infrastructure development plans over the next five years in particular provides unique opportunities for U.S. companies to offer their skills and expertise in partnership with Indian firms.
India is also a key market under the president’s National Export Initiative (NEI) goal of doubling U.S. exports by the end of 2014 to support good-paying jobs, and past missions contributed to the success of thousands of companies exporting in 2011 for the first time. The pace of trade between the United States and India is accelerating; between 2002 and 2011, U.S. goods exports to India more than quintupled, growing from $4.1 billion in 2002 to more than $21.6 billion in 2011.
To learn more about the trade mission, visit http://export.gov/IndiaMission2012/. For more information on Commerce’s efforts to support American businesses trade efforts, visit www.trade.gov. If you are a business and want to learn more about exporting, visit http://business.usa.gov/.
Source: commerce.gov
