The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Initiate dialogue on free trade agreement, SICCI tells U.S. envoy

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Saturday, Jan 20, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Initiate dialogue on free trade agreement, SICCI tells U.S. envoy

Special Correspondent

High-power delegation from U.S. firms based in Singapore in Chennai "This ultimately will raise the standard of living of the weaker sections"

CHENNAI: The Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry, (SICCI) Chennai, has suggested to the U.S. Ambassador in Singapore, Patricia L Herbold, to initiate a dialogue on an Indo-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Welcoming the high-power delegation from U.S. firms based in Singapore to the interactive meeting on Friday, SICCI vice-president A. Vellaiyan sought the intervention of Ms. Herbold to support this initiative with the U.S. authorities.

He said the visit of the U.S. Ambassador in Singapore was very important as the tripartite partnership between South India, Singapore and the US would further synergise and take the economies to a greater height.

"This ultimately will help to accelerate the economic growth and raise the standard of living of the weaker sections," Mr.Vellaiyan added. Embedded software was another area where India had an edge as many U.S. companies had established their research centres in India to develop high-end technology components and embedded software products for the global market.

He complimented Ms. Herbold for choosing Chennai, the gateway to Southeast Asia.

Ms.Herbold said it was her maiden trip to India. Certain amount of interest was shown about the investment climate in Chennai and the subsequent investment opportunities for U.S. firms in Chennai.

The U.S. delegation was led by Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, Douglas H Miller, who is the vice-president, Asia Pacific of Boeing International Corporation.

Cordial ties

The U.S. Consul General in Chennai, David Hopper, said he was confident that such visits would further the cordial ties not only between India and the U.S. but also with Singapore.

Ajit Singh, Consul General of Singapore in Chennai, and S. Raghavan, secretary, and M. Balasubramanian, vice-president of SICCI, participated.

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