Aug302016
Posted at 2:00 PM
Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker addressed the joint plenary session of the second annual U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue (S&CD).
Secretary Pritzker serves as co-chair of the S&CD with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, and India Minister of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman. In January 2015, President Obama and Prime Minister Modi elevated the existing U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue to the Strategic and Commercial Dialogue to reflect the growing significance of the U.S.-India economic relationship. This is the first time the S&CD was held in India.
In her remarks, Secretary Pritzker discussed the progress made toward President Obama and Prime Minister Modi’s goal of increasing trade and investment between the United States and India five-fold. She highlighted the important role played by the Indian and American private sectors in reaching this goal and stressed that by linking the private and public sectors, the U.S. and India can generate economic growth and job creation.
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
Thank you, Minister Sitharaman. It is my honor to serve with you as co-chair of the U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue, along with Secretary Kerry and Minister Swaraj. I would also like to extend my thanks to the private sector co-chairs of the U.S.-India CEO Forum, Honeywell CEO Dave Cote and Tata Chairman Cyrus Mistry.
Before I begin, I want to congratulate the Modi Government on a series of recent reforms – in particular, passage of the bipartisan Goods and Services Tax. This is an extraordinary accomplishment that has the potential not only to accelerate growth but to transform the business climate here in India. Once implemented, it will create more opportunities for both Indian and American firms.
During President Obama’s historic visit to India for the 2015 Republic Day celebration, he and Prime Minister Modi tasked us with a simple yet ambitious goal: to elevate our commercial relationship to the same level as our strategic ties. At that time, we committed to increasing our trade and investment relationship five-fold to $500 billion, aspiring to make it one of the largest in the world. To achieve this aim, our governments are focused on:
- Making it easier to do business between the United States and India;
- Developing India’s smart cities and addressing India’s infrastructure needs;
- Building bridges between our innovators and entrepreneurs; and
- Better aligning U.S. and Indian standards.
In a short time, we have seen how this Dialogue can make us stronger economic partners.
Our challenge for this year’s S&CD is to think bigger, act bolder, and continue to deliver real results. As Prime Minister Modi said in his recent address to the United States Congress – and I quote – “let us work together to convert shared ideals into practical cooperation.” He is truly a man after my own heart. In today’s commercial session, we will advance our “practical cooperation” on the four streams of work we began last year. In addition, we will undertake a new effort: the joint promotion of travel and tourism.
Bringing more Indians and more Americans together is good for our economies, good for our people, and great for our relationship. In that spirit of partnership, this year, we will also focus on connecting Indian and U.S. companies looking for investment opportunities with local leaders and economic development officials in the cities and states of both our countries. As a former business leader, I know that when a company is considering where to invest, they look at more than just the business climate in the country at large. They consider the skills of the local workforce, access to the needed supply chain, the quality of the regional infrastructure, proximity to the researchers at regional world-class universities, and so much more.
No one understands an area’s strengths better than its local leaders, and we believe that forging new partnerships at the state and regional level will yield great benefits for both Indian and American companies and communities.
In today’s increasingly interconnected world, these ties between government and business have never been more important. All of us here today share a common goal: we want to see the United States and India generate sustainable prosperity and implement policies that create jobs and economic growth for our citizens.
But our governments cannot do this alone. Partnership with private sector leaders – the people who actually build companies, make investments, and create jobs – is essential to good policymaking. Both American and Indian business leaders have incredible insights into our economies and are helping us prioritize our policy changes. I firmly believe that their voices are a key reason for our progress through the S&CD over the last year. When we linked this Dialogue with the U.S.-India CEO Forum, we asked our CEOs to be more than just leaders of their respective companies. We asked them to serve as emissaries for a deeper, more strategic bilateral relationship between the United States and India – in essence, commercial diplomats.
Today, as we embark on the second S&CD, the strategic and commercial partnership between the United States and India has never been stronger. We trade more with each other. We invest more in each other. And we do more business together. However, we have more to do to reach the incredible potential that exists in our commercial relationship. I look forward to building upon the trust, openness, and honesty we have developed.
Thank you.
