Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker delivered remarks at the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) Dinner in New Delhi. Secretary Pritzker underscored the central role of the private sector in the U.S.-India commercial relationship and the Department of Commerce’s work to integrate industry into the policymaking process through the U.S.-India CEO Forum and the U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue.

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Good evening. Let me first express my gratitude to Dr. Mukesh Aghi and the U.S.-India Business Council for arranging this dinner. This Council and its members are an invaluable advocate for the U.S.-India economic relationship, and I want to thank you all for your support of the U.S.-India CEO Forum and the U.S. – India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue. In particular, I want to acknowledge the stellar leadership of our CEO Forum private sector co-chairs, Dave Cote and Cyrus Mistry.

While I have spent the last three years in government, I will always feel most at home among business leaders like you. When I took this job, President Obama asked me to serve as his bridge to the business community – not just in the United States but around the world. As co-chairs of the CEO Forum and the Strategic and Commercial Dialogue, Minister Sitharaman and I have worked closely together to ensure that the voice of business is not just heard, but that your ideas and concerns are actively incorporated into our policymaking.

We need you – as business leaders – to have a seat at the table. Because at the end of the day, you are the ones creating more jobs for our people, more prosperity for our communities, and stronger ties between our countries.

Take Honeywell’s expansion in India, for example. In 2002, Honeywell employed about 1,000 people in India. Today, it employs more than 12,500. The Honeywell India Technology Center is the company’s most advanced R&D facility outside the United States.

Or consider United Phosphorus Limited, a chemical manufacturer headquartered in Mumbai. The company recently announced that it would open its first U.S. production facility in Kingstree, South Carolina and create 65 new jobs. Cleary, when our countries do business together, it’s good for our economies, good for our people, and great for our relationship.

Tomorrow, at the U.S.-India CEO Forum and the Strategic and Commercial Dialogue, our private sectors and our governments will explore new ways to deepen our economic and commercial cooperation. Together, we have an opportunity to realize the promise and potential of the U.S.-India Economic Relationship. I hope that all of you, Indian and American, in government and in business, will join us in seizing this moment to keep our nations open for more business together. Thank you.