The latest in the list of people to be enthralled with ‘Brand Buddha’ is a three-member US delegation from Los Angeles (LA) County, who have been in the city since Monday meeting government officials and industrialists to assess the investment potential in the state.
In an exclusive chat with The Indian Express, members of the delegation stated that their meeting with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had left them very impressed with his leadership.
“Very engaging,” was the response from the councilperson of Long Beach city, Suja Lowenthal, while describing the meeting.
“We were very impressed with the clarity of vision that the CM displayed with respect to the needs and opportunities for the state,” said the president of the World Trade Centre Association of Los Angeles-Long Beach, Vance Baugham. The delegation was particularly appreciative of the cultural orientation of Bhattacharjee.
The members feel there is a healthy and strong relationship between the public and the private sector in the state. “There might have been a struggle in the past with the discord between the two sectors, but we found that the two sectors are willing to work together to improve the quality of life in West Bengal, and the level of investment,” said Lowenthal.
The team felt that the public-private participation here was similar to that in their part of the globe, and could spur investment from LA-based companies.
Speaking on behalf of companies from their part of the US, the delegation unanimously stated that dealing economically with a Marxist government with a different political ideology was not an inhibiting factor for business.
“The LA County customs jurisdiction has the largest trade with China and now we are also looking at Vietnam,” said Allen, so there was no reason for not engaging in trade with West Bengal.
“The message that we are going to carry back to companies in LA is that West Bengal is very attractive investment destination. Even during our research we found that this state has a pattern of very high growth. The potential is immense as the infrastructure is just starting to develop,” said Baugham.
According to Bill Allen, the president and CEO of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp, the Bengal CM talked of US collaboration for the proposed deep sea port in the state and the expansion and modernisation of the Kolkata airport.
“We project that after the current expansion project for the airport (commencing in 2008, till 2010), there may be a need to further invest in around 2015, keeping in mind the significant growth in national and international passenger traffic likely to be witnessed by the state,” observed Allen.
He said that a lot of companies in LA had expertise in airport infrastructure creation and management, and they were likely to be a part of the larger trade mission that is slated to visit the state in January 2008.
“Even though the contract for modernisation has been already been awarded, there is scope for our companies to partner in areas such as ground management, navigation and logistic support,” said Baugham while talking about the prospects of US companies partnering in the 2008-10 modernisation plans for Dum Dum airport.
Apart from the agenda that the US delegation brought to the table, other areas for collaboration that were earmarked during the meeting with the CM were food processing, electronic hardware manufacturing, heritage tourism, and education. “The toughest part has been achieved, now we need to formulate an approach, and get the companies here,” Lowenthal noted optimistically.