Roaming Roemer

Addressing the U.S.-India Business Council annual dinner in Washington on June 1, 2010

I spoke at the USIBC event where we officially started the week’s events in Washington for the Strategic Dialogue with India. Ten years ago, we would have seen fifty or sixty people gathered together to network and discuss the possibilities of closer relations between these two democracies. This year, more than 500 people attended the event at the National Building Museum to share thoughts, establish connections, and hear about the “indispensable partnership” and “defining relationship of the 21st century” between the US and India.

This dialogue will include strategic discussions between Secretary Clinton and Minister Krishna on regional cooperation, intelligence collaboration, energy security, women’s empowerment, development and poverty issues, and education reform. President Obama will attend the reception at the historic Benjamin Franklin Treaty Room at the State Department to highlight the importance of the global partnership between these two multiparty and multicultural countries. The people-to-people ties, and the business-to-business successes, will be spotlighted and expanded by both private sector and public sector initiatives.

High-level and extremely productive events often drive policy activity and new initiatives. After Secretary Clinton’s visit to India in July of 2009, Prime Minister Singh’s State Dinner visit to the White House in November of 2009, the ongoing Strategic Dialogues in June of 2010, and an impending visit to India by President Obama in the Fall of 2010, the relationship is rapidly moving in an historic direction.

We all know the people and faces of the successful and respected business leaders in both the United States and India—names like Gates, Tata, Ambani, and Walton are highlighted and familiar to most of us. “Social entrepreneurs” are not nearly as popular, but they are certainly starting to bring gradual transformations to Indian society and to the quality of life for this nation’s poor. According to United Nations statistics, well over a quarter of India’s billion plus population live below the poverty line and one in every two Indians have no access to sanitation. Social entrepreneurs target investments and business ideas to fulfill social needs, such as access to water or solar power, and are providing the results for social change necessary for India to have genuine inclusive and sustainable growth. I recently met with a dozen leaders in this field working on low cost health care designed to give poor women good pre-natal and post-natal outcomes; a group that provides pure and affordable drinking water for poor villagers; and a business that develops accessible solar lighting systems for remote areas in India with no options for conventional power. 
The journey towards developing commercially sustainable business models which target and assist the underprivileged are building an economic ladder to the middle class. Give me your ideas for new business models or social entrepreneurs you might be working with in India.

Secretary Robert M. Gates during his visit to India, January 19, 2010

President Obama announced at his State of the Union address the National Export Initiative, an ambitious and important program aimed at doubling our exports in five years. This could directly add jobs to our domestic economy and employ thousands of Americans in the short run, and help restructure our international paradigm toward new markets like India, where millions of new middle class consumers will emerge in the years ahead. In order to help facilitate this process, the Obama Administration has constructed a framework of supporting policies to build this new global network. First, they increased the budget of the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration by 20 percent to $540 million to promote U.S. businesses abroad. They have asked the Export-Import Bank to ramp up financing for small and medium size businesses to $6 billion from $4 billion. Secondly, the President has directed his Cabinet to do a thorough review of the Export Control Regime, which he believes is harming U.S. economic competitiveness and failing to adequately protect key technologies from falling into the hands of terrorists. Secretary Gates recently delivered a speech on this topic where he stated that “America’s decades old bureaucratically labyrinthine system does not serve our 21st century security needs or our economic interests”. Finally, the Obama Administration has signed a new “Green Partnership” with India to create new opportunities to research and develop technology that will slow down climate change and grow “green” jobs in both countries. This could be the beginning of the next global economy.
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates’ speech

I received Treasury Secretary Geithner in New Delhi, April 6, 2010

We have experienced a strong and steady stream of high level U.S. government officials to India. Secretary Clinton visited in July and announced the Strategic Dialogue; Secretary of Energy Chu worked on renewable energy issues and climate change; Secretary Gates discussed the growing military exchanges and defense relationship; and FBI Director Mueller recently visited Delhi and talked about our close counterterrorism cooperation. Today, I joined Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner on his kick-off of the new Economic and Financial Partnership with our two nations. Secretary Geithner met with the Prime Minister and thanked Dr. Singh for his strong leadership in the G-20. He visited an innovative project where cell phones are used to deposit monies in banks. And he had productive exchanges with Finance Minister Mukherjee on the status of financial sector regulatory reform and India’s infrastructure financing. This is yet another compelling indicator of the vibrant and compelling US-India partnership.

Welcoming Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah, Boeing CEO James McNerney and DLF Limited chairman K.P. Singh during a reception at my residence, Roosevelt House

This past week literally flew by, with several meetings highlighting the rich commercial possibilities that scores of U.S. businesses encounter in this dynamic and rapidly growing Indian economy. I engaged Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, who was interested in several new exciting possibilities in India. I met later in the week with Cisco CEO John Chambers, who was a guest speaker at the India Today conclave, where he discussed routers, grids, and the technology infrastructure of the 21st century. And at the end of the day Friday, I had dinner with Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford, who has just recently unveiled the brand new Figo car to the Indian consumer. Airplanes, technology, and cars of the future can all better connect Indians to each other and to the rest of the world. It is a fascinating time to serve here.

Enjoying the pecan pie at AAHAR 2010, March 11.

I attended and opened AAHAR 2010, a prestigious food festival, this morning at the U.S.A. pavilion in New Delhi. We had several American companies travel to India to display and market their food. U.S. agricultural exports have increased by 41 percent over the past year. Music, diplomacy, books, and even food can serve to bring people together and introduce new tastes and variety in their life. Americans love basmati rice and spices from India just as Indians had a chance today to experience America’s delicious apples, spicy pistachios, California prunes, Midwestern popcorn and mouth watering pecan pie! The press attending the event asked me to pick my favorite food and comment on Afghanistan policy. It was a great opportunity to take my Mom’s advice and not speak with my mouth full!