Getting more queries from Indian companies: South Carolina Department of Commerce

COLUMBIA: India is considered to be an upcoming market as a part of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and we have been getting a lot more queries from Indian based companies- officials from the Department of Commerce in the south eastern US state of South Carolina have said.
Speaking to a few journalists W. Ford Graham- director of international strategy and trade from the Department of Commerce, South Carolina- said, "India is considered to be an upcoming market and we are doing everything to encourage Indian companies to operate in South Carolina.We are well aware that we aren't the first state companies think about while making FDI. But we have realized that once they find out about us they are interested in knowing the investment opportunities. One of the plus points being that due to us being a smaller state geographically and having a population of around 4.8 million we are able to react to every issue which international companies may face very quickly." Graham also added that India is becoming a great place to look at and therefore they have been doing at least one trade mission to India every year.
One of South Carolina's trade mission was lead by Nikki Haley, the first Indian-American woman to become the governor of South Carolina. Haley currently is serving her second term as a governor after being re elected in the year 2014. Currently the state has one commerce office in New Delhi, the first one to be started in the year 2014.
Robert M Hitt III- secretary of commerce from the Department of Commerce said that India is a bigger country than most Americans realize having different regions. "We have been in Europe for 40 years and Asia for 18 years but have just come to India during Governor Haley's term (in 2014). We have seen the economy of India now ready to move outside its borders. We are building relationships and though we have six Indian companies operating in the state now but have others we are talking to. The governor will get more directly involved and we would hence try to work and bring more of them here. We need to keep in mind that we aren't the only state trying to attract them and are competing with several others including our neighbors. However an advantage we have is governor Haley." Haley is the second Indian American governor in United states after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.
Attorney Tushar V Chikhliker from Nexsen Pruet law firm in Columbia who represents companies coming to South Carolina for setting up operations says that the government is supportive as they would like international businesses to know what it is like to operate in South Carolina. "The market is huge in India and there are additional business coming overseas. South Carolina has been paying more attention to India than before especially with governor Haley in office. We can organize a business in the state in a matter of hours however licenses coming in may take days. The process has been very seamless with no levels of bureaucracy to move through," says Chikhliker.
(The writer is in South Carolina at the invitation of US state government)