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Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry organized a Special Session on “The Multifaceted Bond between the United States and India” with Ms. Melinda Pavek on on May 5, 2022, at 03:00 p.m. at ITC Royal Bengal.
Mr. Rishabh C. Kothari, President, MCCI in his address shared that India and the United States have agreed to revive their Trade Policy Forum, after a gap of four years. Trade Policy Forum has raised the 5 focus areas- agriculture, investment, innovation and creativity (intellectual property rights), services, and tariff and non-tariff barriers.
“We also hope that both the countries initiate negotiation focusing on the resolution of various non-tariff barriers and other market access improvements as early as possible.” – said by, Mr. Kothari.
In her address, Ms. Pavek touched upon the essence of the collaboration as per the four cornerstones of the Quad goals. She talked about partnerships ranging from “sea to space, security to health, energy to education” specifically in Climate and Clean energy initiatives, cooperation in defense, maritime and naval sectors, and Health especially in Tuberculosis, Polio, and HIV / AIDS, and importantly, the area of prevention of human trafficking and child sexual exploitation.
She addressed the principal concern for many participants by stating upfront that the consulate was open for tourist visas and that keeping visa expedition and Covid precautions in mind; the Consulate was waiving visa interviews wherever possible.
Given that the total number of Indian students in the United States crossed 200,000 last year, this was a priority for the consulate. She added that student visas would soon start – and that students who had been admitted to U.S. universities but were anxiously waiting for the consulate to start issuing them need not worry and should follow the consulate’s social media updates. She also mentioned that it was a priority to increase the number of American students studying in India.
Specific to West Bengal, and given its highly educated talent pool, the Consul General mentioned possibilities of collaboration in the area of Digital Skills; there was a need for talent to be skilled fast and employed productively; to that end, she mentioned collaborations on developing Community College systems, in which the U.S. has had great success, within the state. Not every job needed a four year engineering degree or that time cycle, she added.
In response to a query, she mentioned that there was also potential to partner in growth in ago and food processing sector along with local business and that the consulate would welcome participation from local groups. The MCCI president, Mr. Rishabh Kothari, assured her that the Chamber would be delighted to support, partner and participate in any such initiatives.
