Alabama governor Bob Riley announced last week the first ever delegation of state and business leaders on an economic development mission to India in May 2010.
The governor said that the economic development mission would be an outstanding opportunity for Alabama companies to meet their customers and to find new ones.
"When an Alabama company finds a customer in a growing market like India, they create jobs in Alabama through exports. There's a tremendous market in India for everything that's made in Alabama," Riley said.
The main reason for the visit, he added, was to help job creation and to stimulate and support trade, investment and joint ventures.
Before making the announcement, the governor met India's former president APJ Abdul Kalam at the State Capitol. He and Riley spoke about strengthening trade and investment ties between India and Alabama.
"With the help of Hilda Lockhart, of the economic wing of state's trade division, who is on the board of the Alabama Indian Business Partnerships, we were able to convince governor to take a trade mission to India," Anil P Agarwal, a former president of AIBP told India Abroad.
Alabama had no focus on trade between India and Alabama primarily because of low trade volume, he said.
In the light of recent economical growth of India, it seemed a perfect time for India and Alabama to be trade partners.
"India and Alabama partnership makes good sense especially when you look at certain industries that are strong in Alabama, for example, agriculture, aerospace, defense, automotive, chemicals, paper, scientific research, medical and cancel research, the very industries India is looking for a match," Agarwal said.
Amrik Walia, current president of the AIBP, said the trip will focus on bilateral trade. AIBP was created to foster business relationship between India and Alabama, he added.
"The pace of our trade and investment relationship with India is accelerating and the potential exits for much more," Riley said.
"We want to promote and advance this relationship and bring new opportunities to citizens both in Alabama and in India."
Exports from Alabama to India are increasing.
Between January and August of this year, the value of Alabama's exports to India totalled $95 million. That's almost as much as the state exported to India in all of 2008 -- $99 million. In 2007, the state's exports to India were $75 million.
The state's principle exports to India are chemicals, chemical products, plastics, automobiles and electrical machinery.
Besides meeting with governor Riley, Kalam made several other stops in Alabama meeting with university leaders at Alabama State University. He also met university officials and students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Alabama at Huntsville. Kalam toured the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.
Image: Bob Riley
