Minnesota Governor to lead a trade mission to India

Washington, Feb 1 (UNI) Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty will lead a 30-member business delegation to India for a week-long visit beginning October 20.

''We view this as a tremendous opportunity to better acquaint Minnesota with India and better acquaint India with Minnesota,'' the Republican governor said yesterday.

The governor led a similar mission to China in 2005.

State Senator Satveer Chaudhary, whose family moved to Minnesota from India, said the trip was 'long overdue'.

He said it was a huge untapped market and any state that took an initiative encouraging competition and exporting its manufactured goods and its knowledge base to India would do well.

The delegation will visit New Delhi, Bangalore, and Mumbai for a series of market and industry presentations, networking events, roundtable discussions and one-on-one business events with potential Indian customers, distributors and partners.

The US manufactured exports to India reached 6.8 billion dollars in 2005, an increase of 111 per cent since 2000. Minnesota's manufactured exports to India grew 208 per cent to 85 million dollars over the same period.

Promising sectors include computers and electronics, machinery, medical products, biotechnology, and food processing. In addition, Indian companies have ambitious plans for expanding and diversifying manufacturing activities, particularly in the automobile, auto parts, metals, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and electronics industries, creating opportunities for Minnesota suppliers.

Governor Pawlenty acknowledged the role that the local Asian Indian community played in the development of the trade mission to India.

''I want to acknowledge local Asian Indian leaders present, my Chief Information Officer Gopal Khanna, State Senator Satveer Chaudhary, leading entrepreneur Mahendra Nath and Professsor Bruce Corrie of Concordia University,'' he said.

The local Asian Indian community applauded the decision to lead a trade mission to India. A group of Asian Indian leaders and community members proposed a plan for a trade mission to India at the request of the Governor two years ago.

Minnesota is among the top ten states in the US in the rate of growth of exports to India. Between 2000 and 2005 exports grew over 200 per cent.

UNI