Obama Trip to India Brings Trade (Video)

Obama Trip to India: President Barack Obama’s state visit to India yields over $14.9 billion in business deals.
Obama Trip to India Brings Trade (Video)
Obama on trip to India: President Barack Obama (L) and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (R) pose after a joint press conference at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Nov. 8. India laid on the splendor of a state visit for Obama, with the U.S. president due to sketch his vision for a friendship that is quickly deepening, despite some prickly differences. (Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images)
Andrea Hayley
11/8/2010
Updated:
11/14/2010

[ Obama Talks Business and Defense with Indian Officials ]

Looking to spur job growth in the United states through increased trade with India, President Barack Obama’s state visit to India yielded over $14.9 billion in business deals. Obama said the U.S.-India relationship has the potential to define the 21st century.

The president and a delegation of 200 business leaders were in India through Monday, the first stop of a 10-day tour to four of Asia’s biggest democracies, including Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea.

Coming on the heels of historic election losses for the Democratic Party, the foreign tour is an opportunity for Obama to highlight one of his administration’s key job creation strategies: the doubling of U.S. exports within five years.

“The United States sees Asia—and especially India—as a market of the future. We don’t simply welcome your rise—as a nation, and a people—we ardently support it,” said Obama in Mumbai on Saturday, according to a press statement released by the White House.

“In Asia and around the world, India is not simply emerging; India has emerged,” the president added, speaking at a U.S.-India Business Council and Entrepreneurship Summit.

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/obama-singh-106628155_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/obama-singh-106628155_medium.jpg" alt="Obama on trip to India: President Barack Obama (L) and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (R) pose after a joint press conference at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Nov. 8. India laid on the splendor of a state visit for Obama, with the U.S. president due to sketch his vision for a friendship that is quickly deepening, despite some prickly differences.  (Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images)" title="Obama on trip to India: President Barack Obama (L) and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (R) pose after a joint press conference at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Nov. 8. India laid on the splendor of a state visit for Obama, with the U.S. president due to sketch his vision for a friendship that is quickly deepening, despite some prickly differences.  (Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-115390"/></a>
Obama on trip to India: President Barack Obama (L) and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (R) pose after a joint press conference at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Nov. 8. India laid on the splendor of a state visit for Obama, with the U.S. president due to sketch his vision for a friendship that is quickly deepening, despite some prickly differences.  (Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images)
According to the IMF, the Indian consumer market currently represents 1.2 billion individuals, and growing. India’s GDP is expected to grow at an annual rate of more than 8 percent through 2015.

India will require trillions of dollars of infrastructure investment to support growth over the next decade, and U.S. technology is already playing a significant role.

A total of 20 business deals, representing over $14.9 billion, were announced since Saturday, including commercial and heavy transport aircraft contracts for Boeing worth $6.8 billion, and a $750 million contract for GE to manufacture steam turbines.

Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE, said during a press conference with CEOs in Mumbai over the weekend, “All of us believe very much in the strategy of doubling exports in the next five years. We’ve all lived the world of globalization and know that it’s not a zero-sum game, that it creates jobs in the United States and also creates jobs in India.”

James McNerney, chairman of the board for Boeing, said in a gathering of the White House press pool on Saturday that having the president come to India helps business.

According to estimates, the nearly $9.5 billion in U.S. export deals will create 50,000 U.S. jobs, but Obama wants to see even more progress on trade.

“I have no doubt that we can do better than that—we can do much better. There’s no reason this nation can’t be one of our top trading partners,” said Obama, to the gathering of CEOs, which included Indian business leaders.

The U.S.-India relationship has deepened considerably since the Cold War era, during which India remained non-aligned. A civil nuclear agreement with India, signed by former president George W. Bush, was key in restoring trust after a series of nuclear weapons tests drew U.S. sanctions during the 1970s.

On Monday, Obama announced the United States would support India in gaining status as a permanent member on the United Nations Security Council, something India badly wanted.

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/ambini106596066_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/ambini106596066_medium.jpg" alt="Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group chairman Anil Ambani (L), General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt (2nd-L), Barack Obama (C), Boeing CEO Christopher Chadwick (2nd-R), and Spicejet Airways director Bhupendra Kansagra look at the Trident Hotel in Mumbai on Nov. 6 during the U.S.-India Business Council and Entrepreneurship Summit. President Obama announced $10 billion in trade deals with India to create 50,000 U.S. jobs. (Rafiq Maqbool/AFP/Getty Images)" title="Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group chairman Anil Ambani (L), General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt (2nd-L), Barack Obama (C), Boeing CEO Christopher Chadwick (2nd-R), and Spicejet Airways director Bhupendra Kansagra look at the Trident Hotel in Mumbai on Nov. 6 during the U.S.-India Business Council and Entrepreneurship Summit. President Obama announced $10 billion in trade deals with India to create 50,000 U.S. jobs. (Rafiq Maqbool/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-115391"/></a>
Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group chairman Anil Ambani (L), General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt (2nd-L), Barack Obama (C), Boeing CEO Christopher Chadwick (2nd-R), and Spicejet Airways director Bhupendra Kansagra look at the Trident Hotel in Mumbai on Nov. 6 during the U.S.-India Business Council and Entrepreneurship Summit. President Obama announced $10 billion in trade deals with India to create 50,000 U.S. jobs. (Rafiq Maqbool/AFP/Getty Images)
On taking office, the Obama administration made Asia a key region of focus for U.S. foreign policy. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s first visit abroad was to Asia, and Prime Minister Singh was Obama’s first official state visitor.

By executive order, the Obama administration put together a high-powered team under the National Export Initiative (NEI) to capitalize on emerging export markets largely in Asia on behalf of American manufacturers.

The NEI is working to remove trade barriers abroad (including for small businesses), assist with financing, enhance the number of trade missions, and facilitate high-level government exchange, such as that with India.

A report produced by NEI points out that in order to maintain robust global growth, the world will have to rely less on U.S. consumption and instead buy more from the United States.

Exports support over one-third of U.S. manufacturing jobs already, and were up 18 percent in the first six months of this year, compared to the first half of last 2009, according to the NEI report.

While the administration has certainly played up this trip as an opportunity to increase U.S. exports to India, other bilateral interests, such as counterterrorism cooperation, collaboration on Afghanistan, global non-proliferation, and cultural exchange, are also part of the agenda.

On Tuesday morning, the president and the first lady are to travel to Jakarta, Indonesia, where Obama is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with President Yudhoyono at Istana Merdeka.

Later this week, the president will participate in a G20 meeting in South Korea, including a bilateral discussion with Chinese leader Hu Jintao, and then on to Japan for an Asian group summit.
Reporting on the business of food, food tech, and Silicon Alley, I studied the Humanities as an undergraduate, and obtained a Master of Arts in business journalism from Columbia University. I love covering the people, and the passion, that animates innovation in America. Email me at andrea dot hayley at epochtimes.com
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