India Post News Service
NEW DELHI: India is suddenly being wooed by all those who matter in the US. A week after Minnesota Governor Pawlenty's visit, Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr arrived here looking for business opportunities.
Huntsman oversaw signing of four memorandums of understanding between the University of Utah and four reputable Indian companies. Research in developing medicines and cure for human diseases can be a key area of long term engagement between India and Utah, USA, Governor Huntsman said at a meeting organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.
According to Huntsman, the new generation thinks beyond cold war and the differences between the two nations. India and the USA are internationalizing and need to prioritize to have a healthy relationship between people of both the countries, he said.
Huntsman emphasized that it was important to speed-up the process of Indo- US affiliation in terms of medicine and biotech for those suffering from life-threatening diseases. The Governor was accompanied by a 31-member delegation including renowned Indian-American Dr Dinesh Patel. Clean energy ranked highest on the priority list of the Governor.
He said that Utah a state situated on the West coast of America, especially has expertise in this sector." Universities in Utah have extensive experience in Life Science Research and India can be a suitable partner in the ongoing projects", he said. The trade delegation to India will initiate a long-term international collaboration with India and the University of Utah.
Four memorandums of understanding were signed between the University of Utah and four reputable Indian companies: Globerian, Global Health Private Ltd. MediCity, Manipal AcuNova Ltd., and Pregna International. Gov. Huntsman witnessed each of the signings, taking place in Mumbai and New Delhi.
The dynamic partnership between the University of Utah and Pregna International, a world leader in contraceptive manufacturing located in Mumbai, India, will focus on the commercialization of cutting edge anti-HIV and contraceptive delivery products for the Indian marketplace.
Utah with a population of three million people is taking the research in a big way and recently one of the faculty member from the University of Utah - Prof Mario P Capecchi got the Nobel Prize for Research in Life Sciences for 2007.
The Governor said, Utah has identified four nations with whom it is going to increase bilateral relations and India is one of them. During his interaction with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr said his mission is to look for business opportunities available in India for Utah companies that have been identified as global partners for the Utah economy.
Kamal Nath called for increasing bilateral cooperation between companies in Utah (United States) and India, especially in the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector that exists. Utah is the most beautiful and innovative state in the US according to Coffman Foundation survey.
Taking this into account the Governor said that the Indian film industry must take advantage by exploring the spot. While he commended the educational institutes in India, he also stressed on literary exchanges between the two.
The current pre-dominant issues between India and the USA are environment, healthcare and creation of an economic bridge, said the Governor. He said that Utah is the youngest state of the USA and the younger generation is keen on understanding Indo-US relation on a wider perspective. In the field of life-sciences Utah has discovered the maximum number of disease causing genes.
Utah is an innovative state with US$ 400 million invested in current programs of research and development in different universities, said Dinesh C. Patel, Managing Director, Spring Capital. Lew Cramer, CEO/President, World Trade Center (WTC), Utah said that WTC is going to be one-stop-shop for all business needs.
He said that Utah is open to business and also wants to give a complete cultural and family experience for the Indians. India and the USA are passing through exciting times and compliment the warm relation shared by the people of two countries for last 40 years, said Dr Naresh Trehan, Chairman, CII Task Force on Rural Health and Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeon, Apollo Hospitals, who chaired the meeting.
He said that responsible citizens should focus on a healthy relationship. Dr Trehan added that this kind of a tie-up between the two significant global powers should have taken place at least forty years back. And now they must leverage the current situation to move at a faster pace.
"Utah has a high reserve of Gold which can be a new area of trade between the two countries," Dr Trehan said. Commenting on Indian success, Dr Trehan said that Indian companies have acquired US$19 billion worth business worldwide in last eight months.
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