CII Communique July 2011

eportUnited State of AmericaGlobal Partnership InitiativeCII organized a reception for a USdelegation led by Mr Kris Balderston,Special Representative,GlobalPartnership Initiative, Office of theSecretary of State, USA, on 20June in New Delhi. The discussionsrevolved around the ‘GlobalAlliance for Clean Cookstoves,’ apublic-private initiative to improvelivelihoods, empower women,and combat climate change bycreating a thriving global marketfor clean and efficient householdcooking solutions. The Allianceis seeking partners to provideleadership, funding, expertise,in-kind resources, and/or othersupport to advance this mission.CII invited interested representatives from allstakeholder communities to join the discussionand offered full support to this initiative. CII briefedthe US delegation about other innovative initiativesincluding the PPP model focusing on skills throughthe National Skills Development Corporation, the ShivNadar Foundation’s project to create entrepreneurship,where corporate houses provide monetary supportto young university students to go to nearby villagesand guide the villagers to earn their livelihood bybecoming self-dependent, solar lanterns, Chotu Koolrefrigeration systems, Swach water purification filters,and others.Meetings with Mr Robert BlakeCII organized a meeting with Mr Robert Blake,Assistant Secretary for South Central Asian Affairs, USSanjay Budhia, Chairman, CII National Committee on Exports;Beth Payne, Consul General of USA; Robert Blake, Asst Secretary ofState, South & Central Asian Affairs, US Dept of State; andR K Agrawal, Deputy Chairman, CII (ER), in KolkataKris Balderston, Special Representative for GlobalPartnership Initiative, US Dept. of State, withChandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CIIDepartment of State, on 20 June in New Delhi. Mr Blakewas accompanied by Mr. Michael H Fuchs, SpecialAdvisor to the Secretary of State; Mr. Mathew Lowe,Special Assistant to the AssistantSecretary; Ms. Mary Tarnowka,Deputy Economic Counsellor,US Embassy; Mr. Sandip Mehta,US Embassy and Ms. AnnalieseHeiligenstein, Economic Officer,US Embassy.The discussions were primarilyfocused on West Bengal, whereMr. Blake had earlier addressed CIImembers, and had meetings withofficials in the new West Bengalgovernment. The West Bengalgovernment is seeking help fromBengali expats, for investmentsand expertise for the state.Mr Blake noted that building infrastructure and cold chainstorage remain on the development agenda. Educationand vocational training programmes – following the PPPmodel, would result in generating jobs for India’s softdividend of young people.On boosting India-Afpak trade, Mr Blake spoke ofreviewing the ‘negative list’ with Pakistan. India,Pakistan and Afghanistan trade and road linkagescould lead to India’s trade with Central Asian countries,he said.Climate Change and EnergyTaking forward the discussions on US-India bilateralcooperation in climate change and clean energy, Track2 teams from USA and India (New Delhi and Mumbai)got together through a video-conference on 7 June.The video conference was an avenue for informationalexchange in anticipation of the next in-person meetingtentatively scheduled for September. The stakeholderson each side gave an overview of recent developmentsin India and the United States on Climate Change;and discussed priority areas of cooperation in cleantechnology; adaptation mechanisms and efforts towardsimproving scientific understanding.India-Us NewsWealth Creators: India has emerged among thefour fastest wealth creator countries in the world andits growth momentum is expected to gather furthersteam going forward, according to the annual GlobalWealth Report of the Boston Consulting Group. Thereport lists the US, China, the UK and India as the66 | July 2011 Communiqué