South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley today called on Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and said her state would like to support Punjab in establishing aero space, pharma, tourism, and agro processing industries.
Haley, who called on Badal at his official residence here, said South Carolina could help Punjab in getting business connections and advocated exchange of delegations to take this initiative forward. She also extended a formal invitation to Sukhbir Badal to visit South Carolina.
The Governor also highlighted how South Carolina has been able to create new jobs in the aerospace and hospitality sectors. She said this had been done by training personnel to do these skilled jobs.
"Our success rate in skill training is as much as 93 per cent and we would be glad to assist Punjab in this field also," she added.
Expressing delight in visiting Punjab, Haley said, "The last time I came here was when I was two years old", adding, she looked forward to visiting the Darbar Sahab in Amritsar tomorrow.
Sukhbir Badal, while agreeing to build relations with South Carolina, said both states could exchange best practises. Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal mooted a proposal to establish a working group to take this relationship forward which was agreed to by Haley.
The Deputy Chief Minister highlighted the steps taken under the leadership of Parkash Singh Badal in making Punjab one of the easiest states to do business with.
"We have changed laws to ensure investors get quick clearances. We have also created a department of administrative reforms to change outdated laws," he said.
Sukhbir also detailed how the state had made it its mission to ensure citizens were not harassed while availing essential services.
"Soon, no Punjabi will have to go to any department to get his work done," he said, adding, "from standing in line to avail of government services, the citizens would now get them online".
