Today both, India and the USA are keen to strengthen and deepen trade relations. Apart from the nuclear deal, although still in the formative stage, the two nations are also exploring various possibilities of a bilateral agreement that would help trade ties.

Efforts are also on to prepare and execute a free trade agreement between India and the US. It is under this backdrop, that The Economic Times SME International Trade Forum series on Indo-US trade was recently held in association with HSBC.

Eminent members of the industry shared their perspective on the road ahead.

The discussion focused on the growth in trade, the specific regulations that help or hinder trade, the role of the government and international trade bodies and the kind of changes that need to be effected at the policy level among various other issues.

As one of the fastest growing economies of the world, there exists tremendous potential for bilateral trade between India and the US. "For US companies India is the place to be," said Mr Newbill. "The positive environment that exists today is great and business makes total sense. Though some American companies have had problems, but then that they should be able to find good partners and I think, this is a very exciting time," he added.

The panelists agreed that while the challenges are definitely there in terms of duties and non-trade barriers, the SMEs should focus increasingly on maintaining quality of products to get the competitive edge.

That can be brought about by more information dissemination. "More awareness needs to be created. The SMEs need to be informed about of what is available, they should be told of what successful SMEs are doing right by sharing the general trends in the industry," Puneet Chaddha, Head-Commercial Banking-India, HSBC said.

He elaborated that it is processes like these which will enable financial services companies to partner more with the SMEs and alleviate the risks that the companies are likely to face in expanding their global footprint.

According to the panellists, a strong focus also needs to built on encouraging more research activity in India.

"There is a big opportunity for undertaking research in India with the growth in the manufacturing sector, pharmaceuticals and IT. We need to create the infrastructural set up for more R&D centres in India," R K Chopra, Secretary General, Indo American Chamber of Commerce added.

Mr. Divya Aggarwal

Money Management Consultants Ltd

Senior Copy Editor, Money Management Consultants Ltd
New Delhi, India

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