Chicago IL: Dr. Ausaf Sayeed, Consul General of India in Chicago, accompanied by D. B. Bhati, Consul (Commercial), paid an official visit to the State of North Dakota from November 03-05, 2015. During the visit, the Consul General had useful discussions with Hon’ble Drew Wrigley, Lt. Governor of the State of North Dakota, who is also the Chairman of North Dakota Trade Office (NDTO).
The Consul General gave a briefing on the positive economic climate in India and the series of initiatives that are being undertaken by the Government of India towards ease of doing business, simplification of procedures, and investment regulations, all of which make India a land that offers extraordinary opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors.
Lt. Governor Drew Wrigley said that there are vast opportunities for partnership between the Indian and the US companies in the fields of Agriculture, Coal, and Energy. He mentioned that North Dakota has vast coal reserves and is the second largest oil producing state in the United States. He also felt that the Indian companies may take advantage of the research and innovations being made in North Dakota in these areas.
The two sides identified the fields of Oil & Gas and Renewable Energy, including Wind Energy & Biomass, Value-added Agriculture, Manufacturing, and Innovation and Technology, as potential areas for increasing economic collaboration and partnership between the Indian and US companies.
“A high-level North Dakotan Trade Mission to India is being planned in February-March 2016, which would probably be led either by Governor of North Dakota Hon’ble Jack Dalrymple or Lt. Governor Hon’ble Drew Wrigley. The Delegation, which would also include Agriculture Commissioner Hon’ble Doug Goehring and several leading business persons from North Dakota, is likely to visit cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Amritsar and possibly Bhopal and Hyderabad”, said the Consul General with a sense of satisfaction.
The Consul General promised that the Consulate would extend all possible assistance to make the visit of the North Dakotan Trade Mission to India successful. The Consul General expressed his hope that with the visit of the upcoming high-level Delegation from North Dakota to India, new partnerships between the US and the Indian companies will emerge in different areas.
The Consul General also gave a presentation at NDTO office in Fargo on the topic “India – Ushering in reforms” to a group of prominent business persons, legal professionals and members of NDTO.
The Consul General visited a local soybean processing facility- Sinner Bros. & Bresnahan (SB&B), which produces a full line of non-GMO soybean varieties after extensive research in the field. He visited NDSU’s Agricultural and Bio-systems Engineering department, where he was apprised of the research being done in precision agricultural technologies and Unmanned Aviation Systems (UAS). The Consul General also witnessed a presentation given by BioPro Power organization on the production of renewable energy by using by-products of agriculture crops as biomass fuels.
The Consul General had fruitful interactions with Al Anderson, Commissioner, North Dakota Department of Commerce; Tom Bodine, Deputy Agriculture Commissioner and Dean Gorder, Executive Director, North Dakota Trade Office (NDTO), besides faculty members of North Dakota State University (NDSU) and several business leaders, agriculturists, and members of professional bodies.