Us Commerce Dept To Open Satellite Offices In India

Lauri Fitz-Pegado, director general of the commerce departments office of foreign commercial services, said that recognising the ongoing decentralisation of economic and commercial decision-making from the Union government to the state and local levels, her office would establish four new satellite commercial offices in rapidly growing, second-tier urban centres in India.

Speaking at the second board meeting of the US-India Commercial Alliance (USICA) held here, Fitz-Pegado disclosed that pending Indian government clearance, the commerce department plans for the phased opening of four more commercial service offices in Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Chandigarh in addition to the offices it currently has in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta and Bangalore.

 

Fitz-Pegado said these satellite offices will offer the full range of commercial service programmes to US companies, including business counselling as well as agent distributor services (ADS) and gold key service which helps set up business appointments for US firms with potential Indian partners.

Through these offices, the department of commerce hopes to provide more timely information on opportunities, allowing executives greater access to some of Indias fastest-growing urban areas.

As with the current offices, the new ones would be staffed with Indian employees, who would be connected through the commercial service communications network with the primary commercial offices in India, as well as with the extensive network of commercial service domestic offices throughout the US, she said.

Fitz-Pegado said in order to effectively carry out this mission, her office expected to work closely with local business groups and chambers of commerce in targeted cities. To date, we have received solid and substantive support from local business organisations for these planned commercial offices, she said. She predicted that close cooperation with local Indian business in these fast-growing regional centres will allow us to facilitate relationships with a whole new range of small and medium-size Indian companies.

Small and medium-sized companies form the backbone of the business community, both in India and the United States and noted that in India, as with the US, much of the countrys commercial and entrepreneurial talent is not located nor limited to the major metropolitan areas.

Fitz-Pegado said the expansion of its presence in India by the commercial service with these four new satellite offices is only a start and we know we have much further to go.