Speeches and Remarks 2006

Time to Accelerate U.S.-India High Technology Trade
Shyam Saran and David A. Sampson

The United States and India are on the brink of an historic opportunity. After decades of unfulfilled promise, followed by years of hard work and productive negotiations, we are ready to accelerate U.S.-India high technology trade to its full potential.

India's economic emergence is one of the defining developments of our time. Fueled by sustained growth, the development of its enormous human potential, and the emergence of the world's largest middle class, India has assumed an important place in the global economy.

The United States and India value their partnership that is based on common democratic principles, a strong economic relationship and a shared commitment to combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. As partners, the United States and India offer each other significant scope for high-technology trade. U.S. companies now have an increased opportunity to export their latest high technology and other products to customers in India's rapidly growing economy. Employing American cutting edge technologies will, in turn, strengthen India's global competitiveness that is so critical to its sustained growth and prosperity. Through its research and development and other high-technology outputs, India represents a growing high technology hub and source for American and global consumers. This nascent two-way high technology trade is one sign of the growing interdependence of the U.S. and India economies.

Thus far, however, our two countries have only begun to scratch the potential of our high technology relationship. In 2005, for example, the United States exported $8 billion worth of goods to India, including $2 billion categorized as "advanced technology products." While this represents an increase of 50 percent since 2003, these figures contrast with the $42 billion worth of goods that American firms exported to China during the same period, including over $12 billion in advanced technology. American investment increased significantly over the previous two years, but remains barely half the comparable stock in China.  Clearly, there are great possibilities ahead, and our two countries are committed to capturing it.

Over the past four years, our two countries have worked together in the U.S.-India High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG) to identify and remove barriers to high technology trade. With the progress made through the HTCG, as well as the completion of the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership Initiative in July 2005, the United States has significantly reduced its restrictions on high technology exports to India.  Thus, in 2005, less than one percent of exports to India required a U.S. Department of Commerce export license, and over ninety percent of all export license applications were approved.

The past six months have witnessed acceleration in our efforts. Implementation of President Bush and Prime Minister Singh's understanding on U.S.-India civil nuclear cooperation, combined with their commitment to strengthen bilateral trading ties, opens the way to an expanding economic partnership between our two countries that would have been unthinkable even five short years ago.

Within the HTCG framework, industry Working Groups have been created for defence, biotechnology, information technologies, and nano-technology. The United States is creating an authorization for items that would otherwise require individual export licenses to Indian end-users engaged solely in civilian activities.

As the next step in this process, our two Governments will reach out to private business to help them appreciate the opportunities created by our progress. Later this month, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and the U.S. Departments of Commerce and State, in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, will hold a series of one-day seminars on "Current and Prospective Opportunities for US-India High Technology Trade" in Hyderabad, New Delhi, Bangalore, and Mumbai. These programs will clarify the full range of high technology trade now open to American and Indian businesses.  To sign up for a seminar, businesses should contact FICCI's Sunita Rattan at Tel: 98-110-17780 or Email: sunitar@ficci.com for the Hyderabad or New Delhi event, or CII's Sudha Subrahmanya at Tel: 080-25276544/45 or Email: sudha.subrahmanya@ciionline.org for the Bangalore event, or CII's V. Hariram at Tel: 022-66611692 or Email: hariram.v@ciionline.org for the Mumbai event.

The U.S. and Indian governments have set the stage for accelerated high technology trade to benefit both our countries.  Now, it is up to the business communities in both countries to seize the opportunities.

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The writers are Foreign Secretary of India and the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce, respectively. This signed op-ed appeared in the September 18, 2006 edition of The Economic Times.