Chennai: Bilateral trade between India and the US has increased 40 percent in the last three years and is "on track" to cross USD 100 billion this year, US Consul General Jennifer Mcintyre said Thursday.
Mcintyre, while delivering 'Indira Gandhi Endowment Lecture' here, said one of the key drivers in the United States and India's strategic relationship was "business and trade".
"Our business ties are strong and growing. Bilateral trade between our two countries is up 40 percent since we began our Strategic Dialogue three years ago, and it is on track to exceed, what we hope will be a hundred billion dollars this year," she said.
Noting that the Consulate was focused on facilitating increased opportunities for trade and investment, she said, "Led by our commercial office, the Consulate has opened American Business Corners (ABCs) in Madurai and Coimbatore."
"We plan to open several more across South India this year, including one each in Trivandrum and Kochi next week," Mcintyre added.
ABCs, she said, provide useful information for Indian businesses looking to partner with US companies or expand their market overseas.
She said an architectural trade mission would be to Chennai in October as well as people from San Antonio will visit in January.
Observing that Chennai ranks among the top 10 visa issuing centre in world and the single largest issuer of specific technical work-related areas, Mcintyre said, "...We are continuing to work on ways to make the process easier and more efficient for the public".
She said as part of this work to help the public understand the visa requirements, the Consulate conducts regular outreach programmes.
She said in one year period, the Consulate has issued more than 1.70 lakh visas to citizens of South India.
On academics, she said the number of Americans studying in India grew by 44 percent in 2011-12.
"More than one lakh Indians study in the United States and I am pleased that the number of Americans studying in India increased by 44 percent last year," she said.
PTI
