USIBC to hold its first India Idea Summit in Mumbai

The US-India Business Council (USIBC), a top American business advocacy group, to showcase the positive impact of the US-India relationship and focus on future opportunities for companies in the two nations.

The two-day conference beginning September 5 will be inaugurated by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu will deliver the key note address.

The summit is being held on the eve of the maiden 2+2 India-US dialogue in New Delhi on September 6.

This is for the first time that US India Business Council (USIBC) is holding its annual general body meeting in India.

"India Ideas Summit is an effort by USIBC and by the US Chambers of Commerce to showcase (not only) how important the India relationship and the economic partnership is, but also to showcase how businesses, Indian and American are really driving impact and are contributing in both countries," USIBC president Nisha Desai Biswal told PTI in an interview.

The USIBC plans to hold its summit every alternate year in India, she said.

"We see this as an opportunity to be able to highlight the impact and the contribution in both countries; to be able to elevate the narrative around the win-win scenarios around the impact that we're having," she said.

The theme of the conference is 'US and India connecting our future', she said.

"We are looking forward to showcasing the positive impact of the US India relationship, (which) sometimes get sidelined when everybody wants to focus on some of the issues that perhaps, are a bit more contentious and lose sight of how important and powerful this relationship is," Biswal said.