'Collaboration between Indian and US cos will benefit both'

Updated on: Thursday, September 16, 2010

Amid outsourcing turning out to be a sour spot in Indo-US relations, a senior US official today said collaboration between companies of the two countries would be of mutual benefit.

The US Under Secretary of State Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs Robert Hormats also urged Indian firms to increase investment in the US.

"We welcome Indian investment in the US and we welcome cooperation between American and Indian companies. The commercial collaboration between companies of the two countries result in mutual benefit, mutual job creation,"
Hormats said here while speaking at a CII event.

His remarks come a day after Commerce Minister Anand Sharma termed Ohio ban as "not welcome at all".

"Indian IT industry has made a notable contribution which is acknowledged globally, even in the US. It is Indian entities which are responsible for creating jobs, even now when there are big job losses," Sharma had said.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has banned offshore outsourcing by government departments. Earlier, the US increased professional visa fees significantly to fund a USD 600 million programme to secure its border with Mexico.

Sharma had also cited data suggesting that Indian IT companies have created over 2.5 lakh jobs in the US in the last three years.

Hormats added that the US would also be interested in exporting military equipments, agricultural machinery and telecom products to India.

The Under Secretary termed the current US economic recovery as slow and painful.

"We are in the process of very slow recovery, painfully slow recovery and the most disappointing part of this is very high rate of unemployment and the prospect is that it is not going to drop significantly in coming months soon," Hormats said.

'Collaboration between Indian and US cos will benefit both'

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