Pennsylvania invites Indian businesses

Bangalore, Nov 17 (UNI) Pennsylvania, the sixth largest economy in the United States, has become the latest State to woo the Indian industry, especially in Life Sciences, High Technology, Advanced Manufacturing and Materials, and Business Services fields, by offering a host of value propositions.

Speaking at a business seminar here last night, Pennsylvania Secretary of Community and Economic Development Dennis Yablonsky, said the State, considered as the gateway to North America, offered value propositions which no other State in any country could offer.

The State offered various sops to investors like grants, land and building, machinery and equipment, infrastructure, tax abatements, job training grants, R and D tax credit and venture capital.

He said Pennsylvania, which had 70 per cent forest cover, had been traditionally a coal mining and heavy industry major, but the State was now growing as a major centre for knowledge-based industry. It offered the best location, infrastructure, workforce, apart from low- cost business, financial and technical assistance.

Mr Yablonsky said the State, with 12 million population and a 468 billion dollar economy, had modern and mature road, rail and sea infrastructure, apart from two major, five minor international airports and 800 minor airports, five major ports and one million miles of optic fibre cable.

Listing out the recent results on the global scale, he said the State assisted trade sales had increased by 156 per cent and exports by 20.47 per cent. It was ranked first in North America for cross-border investment projects and 9th in the US for exports.

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