CHENNAI: Chief Minister O Panneerselvam’s invitation to American companies to take part in the Global Investors Meet of the Tamil Nadu Government next year elicited a positive response from a visiting US delegation led by Ambassador Kathleen Stephens, Charge d’affaires of the US Embassy.
The delegation, which called on the Chief Minister at the Secretariat indicated that US firms were very keen to be part of the event.
Kathleen Stephens further expressed the desire that the Principal Commercial Officers in the US Embassy and the Consulate in Chennai would be very happy to be involved in the planning of the event.
Acknowledging the spirit of positivity and optimism among people during her interaction in Chennai, she maintained that it was due to the development work carried out by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
Some of the key projects and areas of significant synergy between US and Tamil Nadu which came up for discussion during the meeting include - development of a Finance City in Chennai which can complement what is happening in other regional financial centres and provide necessary back up support, development of industrial parks, nodes and clusters including the Madurai-Tuticorin Industrial Corridor project.
Greater collaboration in provision of urban infrastructure and services including Intelligent Transport Solutions, Waste Water Management, Desalination and Solid Waste Management, renewable energy projects including solar energy and wind energy and entrepreneurship development initiatives were some of the other subjects discussed during the meeting.
The Chief Minister said Tamil welcomes more investment from the US and referred to the Vision 2023 document, which aims at making State the most favoured investment destination in India, and one of the top three investment destinations in Asia.
According to the Ambassador the US Consulate Chennai issuing the largest number of employment visas in the world, is a reflection of the skill level of the people in the area.
Indicating that the US shared Tamil Nadu’s vision on growth, she said the Embassy’s intention was to promote investment and greater people to people contacts.
The Ambassador was accompanied by Phillip A. Min, Consul General of the United States in Chennai, Kalpana Murthy, Political and Economic Officer and Adrian Pratt, Ambassador’s Special Assistant.