September 26, 2011, Washington D.C.: Key leaders from India and the US participated in a meeting convened by the US-India CEO Forum on September 22, 2011 in Washington, DC. The CEO Forum met to establish an action plan for raising more investment and strengthening bilateral trade efforts. The Alliance for US India Business (AUSIB) lauded the process of highlighting the significant role played by private-sector players in the US-India business partnership. AUSIB has been instrumental in accentuating and catalyzing bipartisan trade activities between the two countries since 2004. 

The CEO Forum reviewed the status of the past ventures, announced activities that have been successfully completed since November 2010, when the last CEO Forum happened, and discussed new endeavors undertaken by the US and Indian public-private sectors in 2011. Earlier, the Forum’s members sent a report to President Obama and Prime Minister Singh recommending greater efforts in the areas of e-health, education, infrastructure, energy, and the others.

Some important initiatives during the September 2011 Forum were - the Indian Government announced guidelines for an Infrastructure Debt Fund; CEOs from both the countries pledged to work unitedly for development of water awareness fund and campaign; the CEO Forum, in association with the US Department of Energy (DOE), proposed to advance implementation of the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC); and The US EXIM, OPIC, and USTDA agreed to facilitate development and expansion of cold chain systems leveraging American technology in India. 

Sanjay Puri, President of AUSIB, applauded the CEO Forum’s efforts and said: “Both the US and Indian governments should beef up and contribute even more towards nurturing the collaborative trade relationship, and focus especially on energy, biotechnology, and infrastructure.”

The CEO Forum co-chairs Ratan Tata and David Cote welcomed the participation of Indian Minister of Finance Pranab Mukherjee, Indian Minister of Commerce Anand Sharma, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, US Trade Representative Ambassador Ron Kirk, Deputy National Security Advisor Michael Froman, and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Moreover, the meeting was attended by many American and Indian CEOs and senior Indian and US officials. Deputy Secretaries of State William Burns and Thomas Nides hosted the Forum.

About AUSIB: The Alliance for U.S. India Business (AUSIB) is a leading non-profit trade association that offers a pathway to help your business succeed in the United States and India. AUSIB seeks to augment investment flows and trade between the U.S. and India and open new channels of communication between business and government leaders. For more information please visit http://www.ausib.org

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